Marlen Reusser wins Tour de France Femmes time trial as Ferrand-Prévot loses more than two minutes

Marlen Reusser has won stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes. The Swiss Movistar rider delivered exactly what was expected of the time trial world champion in the race against the clock, narrowly beating the sensational Lieke Nooijen of Visma | Lease a Bike. Reusser also moved into the yellow jersey and gained time on her main rivals, particularly a struggling Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

The women’s Tour de France had already been turned somewhat on its head by Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset’s surprise move on Monday. Tuesday brought the race’s individual time trial, which appeared to be the first major appointment between the general classification contenders. The course was undulating and included a sharp climb around the halfway point, setting the stage for a dynamic and potentially decisive battle.

Several outsiders were among the early starters. Newly crowned Dutch champion Daniek Hengeveld was one of the first notable riders to roll down the start ramp, but she was unable to set the fastest time. Sandrine Tas of Lotto-Intermarché established the first benchmark, completing the 21-kilometre course in 28 minutes and 49 seconds. Her Belgian compatriot and national champion Lotte Claes of Fenix-Premier Tech then went 24 seconds faster.

Claes’ effort looked set to become the first serious benchmark, but Lieke Nooijen had other plans. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider, who finished third at this year’s Dutch National Time Trial Championships and fifth at last year’s European Championships, was already fast at the halfway point. At the finish, however, she was an extraordinary fifty seconds faster than Claes. Mischa Bredewold of SD Worx-Protime also produced a strong ride but conceded 41 seconds to her compatriot.

Nooijen’s second half was phenomenal. Every challenger struggled to match her speed over that section of the course. British champion Zoe Bäckstedt of Canyon//SRAM was considered one of the leading favourites and was only fractionally slower at the intermediate checkpoint. Even the powerful Bäckstedt could not equal Nooijen’s pace in the finale, though, finishing almost 16 seconds down and keeping Dutch hopes of a stage victory alive.

Meanwhile, the main general classification riders began rolling off the start ramp. Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx-Protime was the first of the major contenders to begin, with Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon//SRAM, Paula Blasi of UAE Team ADQ and Marlen Reusser of Movistar following soon afterwards. The world time trial champion had naturally identified this stage as one of her biggest opportunities.

Reusser began the time trial aggressively and set an excellent time at the intermediate checkpoint. It was initially difficult to judge exactly how valuable that performance was, but the picture became much clearer when Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma | Lease a Bike passed the same point. The defending champion was already one minute and 20 seconds behind the Swiss rider halfway through the stage. Ferrand-Prévot was clearly heading for a significant time loss. The only remaining question was how severe the damage would be.

Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM had also lost 43 seconds by the intermediate checkpoint but remained among the better general classification contenders. Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ was stronger, recording the fourth-fastest split, 21 seconds behind Reusser. Demi Vollering of FDJ-SUEZ was only one second slower than the Italian. Kim Le Court, who had started the day second overall, conceded one minute and 25 seconds to Reusser, while yellow jersey Sigrid Haugset had already lost almost all of her race lead at the checkpoint.

Van der Breggen was unable to make a major impression at the finish, but Reusser certainly was. She stopped the clock at 27 minutes and 30 seconds, beating Nooijen by just four seconds and finally removing the Dutchwoman from the hot seat. Attention then turned to Ferrand-Prévot, who managed to limit her losses slightly during the second half but still finished two minutes and 13 seconds behind Reusser. It was a major setback for the Visma | Lease a Bike leader.

Niewiadoma produced a solid ride to record the tenth-fastest time at the finish, but Longo Borghini went quicker. The Italian finished eighth, one minute and three seconds behind Reusser but more than a minute ahead of Ferrand-Prévot. Cédrine Kerbaol performed even better than her French compatriot, crossing the line in an impressive sixth place. Several major names were still to finish, but the yellow jersey already appeared destined for Reusser.

None of the remaining general classification contenders could match the Swiss rider’s time. Marianne Vos of Visma | Lease a Bike and Noemi Rüegg of EF Education-Oatly did not appear to ride at maximum intensity, but Vollering certainly did. The FDJ-SUEZ leader produced an excellent second half and recovered some of the time she had lost to Reusser earlier in the course. She finished third, 18 seconds behind the winner. Vollering therefore conceded a small amount to Reusser but gained substantial time on most of her other GC rivals.

All that remained was to wait for Le Court and Haugset, neither of whom could produce a convincing second half. The Mauritian AG Insurance-Soudal rider lost further ground and finished two minutes and 23 seconds behind Reusser, making her even slower than Ferrand-Prévot. Haugset fought all the way to the line but surrendered the yellow jersey by a wide margin. She had started the stage with a lead of two minutes and 10 seconds over Reusser but conceded more than three minutes in the time trial.

1. Marlen Reusser 27.30.
2. Lieke Nooijen + 0.04
3. Demi Vollering + 0.18
4. Zoe Bäckstedt + 0.19
5. Mischa Bredewold + 0.45
6. Kristen Faulkner + 0.54
7. Cédrine Kerbaol "
8. Lotte Claes + 0.55
9. Riejanne Markus + 1.00
10. Elisa Longo Borghini + 1.03