{"id":2083104,"date":"2026-08-06T21:33:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T18:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2083104"},"modified":"2026-08-06T21:33:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T18:33:36","slug":"reusser-versus-vollering-race-leader-ready-for-spicy-showdown-on-ventoux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2083104","title":{"rendered":"Reusser Versus Vollering: Race Leader Ready for Spicy Showdown on Ventoux"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mont Ventoux looks set to be the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift\u00a0decider.<\/p>\n
The gap between race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and closest rival Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) is just 12 seconds, barely 80 meters on the 21-kilometer climb which concludes stage 7 Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it spicy, it makes it interesting, not only for you [media] and the public, also for us,\u201d Reusser said in her post-race press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s crucial tomorrow, but then it keeps going. I think you have to stand in Nice at the end and then be in yellow.\u201d 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) is also lurking in third, 1:17 behind.<\/p>\n
Reusser rode Mont Ventoux for the first and only time \u201csome weeks ago\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it, that kind of climb was suiting me more than the ones we did before. It\u2019s going to be brutal, 100 per cent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The Swiss cut a calm figure, saying that she had only heard about possible winds on the climb and that she didn\u2019t know the strategy for the next day.<\/p>\n
Down to descending<\/h2>\n
Thursday\u2019s sixth stage between Montbrison and Tournon-sur-Rh\u00f4ne might not have seen any time change for the top three contenders on GC, but it was far from straightforward or worry-free for the race leader.<\/p>\n
Reusser hinted that her descending was put under pressure, almost overshooting a corner down the final categorized climb of the C\u00f4te de Boucieu-le-Roi.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I do sketchy corners, but I was good. I made it. It was under control, a bit [on the] limit sometimes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think some people tried to do something today,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I tried so much to be in front: because if there\u2019s one split, you\u2019re in yellow and you\u2019re not there, the motivation to pull it through is there.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo today I was not afraid of the uphills, I was [like] \u2018I shouldn\u2019t be on the back foot in the downhill because it would be sad to motivate people\u2019. It\u2019s a waste of energy, so I think mission completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Vollering helper to hurter<\/h2>\nA podium finish at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a Femenina, losing to Vollering, opened Reusser\u2019s eyes up to her full stage racing capabilities. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
34-year-old Reusser\u2019s journey into the yellow jersey comes after years of domestique<\/i> work for SD Worx and her current main rival for victory before joining Movistar Team in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemi was the leader for the Tour de France; 2022 and 2023 was Demi. I very generously got the Tour de Suisse, if I was faster in the TT,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen 2024, I had long Covid, I was not racing. It was more the question: how will I come back? How strong? And then \u201825, I had my own leader\u2019s role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second at the Vuelta last May made her see that \u201ceverything is possible\u201d. However, her 2025 Giro ended with a bad gastrointestinal infection and an early Tour abandon with ill health.<\/p>\n
This year is the first time that the world time trial champion has had a clean run at the Tour de France Femmes.<\/p>\n
A giant day on the Tour de France Femmes<\/h2>\nMont Ventoux is an emblematic cycling climb (Photo: Chris Auld)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mont Ventoux has been looming large on the horizon since the start in Lausanne as the hardest climb in the race\u2019s short history.<\/p>\n
Yet the yellow jersey still seems to weigh lightly on the shoulders of Marlen Reusser. The race leader spoke at length to the press and seemed relaxed, even 24 hours before taking on the HC horror of the \u201cGiant of Provence\u201d.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSometimes I have the feeling people \u2013 and also my competitors \u2013 sometimes take cycling very, very serious,\u201d she said. \u201cLike everything in life, it\u2019s just a fun thing to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a bike race. I\u2019m maybe not as crazy about these things like others. I\u2019m ok, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSee you hopefully tomorrow,\u201d she said over her shoulder as she walked away from the race leader\u2019s press conference in Tournon-sur-Rh\u00f4ne for her date with destiny.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2288506774-scaled.jpg”] Andy McGrath Updated August 6, 2026 08:30PM Mont Ventoux looks set to be the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift\u00a0decider. The gap between race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and closest rival Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) is just 12 seconds, barely 80 meters on the 21-kilometer climb which concludes stage 7 Friday. \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2083104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2083104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2083104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2083104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2083104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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