Knetemann asks Ferrand-Prévot crucial Ventoux question: ‘Would you wait until Friday?’

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot lost more than two minutes to her biggest rivals at the Tour de France Femmes on Tuesday. The time trial proved to be her Achilles heel, while Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering made major gains in the general classification. Roxane Knetemann saw a surprisingly vulnerable Visma | Lease a Bike leader, but she is already looking forward to what promises to be a thrilling battle.

Reusser won the time trial and took over the yellow jersey. The Swiss rider finished ahead of Vollering, who placed third in the race against the clock. The FDJ-SUEZ leader conceded 17 seconds to Movistar’s world champion, leaving the gap between the pair at just 13 seconds in the general classification. It also means Vollering now has a useful advantage over several of her other major rivals.

Knetemann was also impressed by Vollering’s time trial, even though the Dutch rider did not appear completely smooth on the bike. “But I didn’t think it looked particularly pretty,” she said on her In het Wiel podcast. “She looked so unsettled. Of course, she was riding right at her limit, and we know Vollering as a fighter. You could see from her body that she was putting absolutely everything into it. I was hoping it would all go well because, to me, it looked so intense.”

Ferrand-Prévot was one of the biggest losers of the day, conceding 2 minutes and 15 seconds to Reusser. “That really is a lot,” Knetemann said. “I had estimated that she might lose around 1 minute and 20 seconds. I don’t think she will look back on that time trial with any satisfaction. I’m not saying she has already accepted defeat, either. She simply didn’t ride a good time trial, but that does make the coming days incredibly exciting.”

Stage 5 is already a demanding hilly race featuring around 2,880 metres of elevation gain. Another difficult day in the hills follows before the peloton reaches Mont Ventoux. The Giant of Provence provides the setting for the queen stage, but the race will still be far from over after that. The short final stage around Nice includes four ascents of the Col d’Èze. Ferrand-Prévot’s two-minute deficit could therefore disappear remarkably quickly.

However, Knetemann believes the gap is now too large for Ferrand-Prévot to wait until Mont Ventoux before making her move. “We are all assuming that, just as she did on the Madeleine last year, she can and will take a lot of time on Ventoux,” she said. “But would you wait until Friday when you are already two minutes behind? Ventoux is obviously completely different from everything we have seen so far. Even so, I wouldn’t dare gamble everything on Friday.”

While Ferrand-Prévot struggled in the time trial, many were surprised by an excellent performance from Kasia Niewiadoma. The Canyon//SRAM rider, who won the Tour de France Femmes in 2024, is not generally regarded as one of the peloton’s leading time trial specialists and has often conceded time in the discipline in the past. In Dijon, however, she finished 13th and only lost significant time to Reusser and Vollering.

Knetemann therefore expects Niewiadoma to enjoy another highly successful Tour. “In the end, she only loses around 50 seconds to Vollering, which is an excellent result for her,” she said. “The second part of the course also suited Reusser much more than Niewiadoma because that section was really about power, body mass and speed. So hats off to her. She is simply going to finish on the podium again!”