Pauline Ferrand-Prévot finished 34th in the stage 4 individual time trial of the Tour de France Femmes on Tuesday, losing more than two minutes to stage winner Marlen Reusser. The result drops Ferrand-Prévot to 14th overall.
The stage was a 21-kilometre time trial between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon in the Burgundy region. Reusser's victory allowed her to take the yellow jersey from Sigrid Haugset, who had held the overall lead going into the stage.
Reusser takes the yellow jersey
Reusser posted the fastest time on the day, finishing four seconds ahead of Nooijen in second place. Vollering was third, 18 seconds back, followed by Backstedt at 20 seconds and Bredewold at 45 seconds.
Haugset lost her overall lead after finishing more than three minutes behind Reusser's time, well off the pace set at the front of the race.
Vollering closes to 14 seconds
Vollering's third-place finish on the stage moves her up to second overall, just 14 seconds behind Reusser. She is considered, in theory, better suited to high-mountain stages than Reusser, which could shape the fight for the yellow jersey later in the race.
Ferrand-Prévot's difficult day
Ferrand-Prévot's time trial unraveled early. She was already 1 minute 21 seconds down at the first intermediate checkpoint, and by the finish she had conceded 2 minutes 13 seconds to Reusser.
The cyclist Alban Lorenzini posted a photo on X of Ferrand-Prévot's riding position during the time trial, writing that nothing about it looked right, calling the position terrible and questioning the design of what he described as a single-arm cockpit on her bike.
Ferrand-Prévot had not commented publicly on the stage by the time the live coverage ended on Tuesday evening.
General classification after stage 4
Cédrine Kerbaol posted the sixth-fastest time on the stage, losing 54 seconds to Reusser, and moved up to third place overall. Kim Le Court lost 2 minutes 23 seconds on the stage and finished just behind Ferrand-Prévot in the standings.
Ferrand-Prévot now sits 14th overall, 2 minutes 13 seconds behind Reusser, 1 minute 59 seconds behind Vollering, 1 minute 10 seconds behind Longo Borghini and 1 minute 1 second behind Blasi.
