Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney loses yellow jersey in Tour de France Femmes

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) lost the yellow jersey during stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, surrendering her lead to Demi Vollering in Nice. Frustrated by an apparent unsporting maneuver from Vollering's teammate, Célia Gery, who blocked her on a critical climb, Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted Gery at the finish line. She expressed her displeasure, asking, "Why did you close me to the barriers?" Additionally, she voiced her anger to television cameras, remaining visibly upset as she cooled down after the race.

At the Canyon-SRAM bus, both technical staff and sports directors met with Niewiadoma-Phinney, who opted not to speak to the media post-race. Her team reviewed footage of the race, although the available television clips did not clear up the alleged incident due to unhelpful camera angles.

Further down the road, the FDJ team contended that any action from Gery was purely accidental, insisting that it is not Gery's character to race aggressively or unfairly. According to Canyon cycling director Rolf Aldag, there was no penalty, fine, or warning given to Gery after the stage report was released. Aldag, who initially refrained from commenting on the specifics, mentioned that if it was unfair, then the video assistant referee (VAR) and race jury would take action.

He reflected on the key moment of the incident, noting, "If Niewiadoma-Phinney had been able to follow Vollering's wheel unimped, the stage and, therefore, the GC result may have been significantly different." He suggested her missed opportunity affected the outcome: "If she's on Demi's wheel, she gets over the top with Demi, and then nothing happens and the GC stays the same."

Despite Canyon-SRAM's scrutiny of the situation and their communication with the jury, there was an acknowledgment that any penalty would not alter the race outcome. The team deemed Niewiadoma-Phinney's performance on Mont Ventoux as exemplary and believed in her capabilities to contest for the title in the remaining stages.