Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney accused Celia Gery of deliberately blocking her at the start of the final climb of stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, saying it forced her to stop pedaling and cost her the race leader's yellow jersey to Demi Vollering. Niewiadoma-Phinney said that if riders want to race, they should do it fairly, calling the incident childish and saying she had lost all respect for them.
Vollering responded after the stage, saying she could see nothing in front of her but darkness and believed Gery likely felt the same, both riders being at their physical limit. Vollering said she was sure Gery had not noticed Niewiadoma-Phinney and had not acted deliberately, adding that she thought Niewiadoma-Phinney knew deep down that such things happen during races.
Vollering escalates before final stage
A day later, ahead of the final stage, Vollering went further. Speaking to TNT Sports, she said she had a lot of respect for Niewiadoma-Phinney but was disappointed by her interview the previous day, saying it was not fair to attack her teammate in the heat of the moment. Vollering then said she had not forgotten what Niewiadoma-Phinney did when she herself crashed two years earlier, and said Niewiadoma-Phinney was not the right person to talk about fair play.
That reference was to stage 5 of the 2024 race, when Vollering fell and Niewiadoma-Phinney, riding in the lead group, did not slow down as rivals often do in such situations. She pushed on and took the yellow jersey from Vollering, who lost more than a minute to the stage winner after needing about 50 seconds to get back up.
Vollering defends young teammate
Vollering said she did not blame Gery, adding that riders often forget they are still human beings on bicycles. She said Gery was still very young and was now facing heavy criticism, which she considered unfair given how much effort she had put in, and said the sport needed to protect her.
Going into stage 9, the race's final stage, Niewiadoma-Phinney trailed the leader by eight seconds, with the question open whether she could close the gap for a second career Tour de France Femmes title after her first win in 2024.
