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Katarzyna Niewiadoma retained the overall lead in the Tour de France Femmes as Justine Ghekiere won the penultimate stage.<\/b><\/p>\n
Niewiadoma finished fourth in the 166.4km seventh stage from Champagnole to a summit at Le Grand-Bornand to keep hold of the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
The Polish rider has a 27-second advantage over second-placed Belgium’s Puck Pieterse, who came home seventh on Saturday, heading into Sunday’s final stage.<\/p>\n
“It was a very good day for us. We rode a perfect race. I was getting a lot of support from my team which allowed me to save energy for the final,” said Canyon-SRAM rider Niewiadoma.<\/p>\n
“Of course it was super long and very challenging from the start so I’m very happy. We didn’t lose anything, we’re still up there with 24 hours to go.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to be a very important day in my career and in my team’s existence. We’re ready for it and we’re happy to still be in yellow. I think everyone is very motivated. We’re here to pursue our dreams.”<\/p>\n
Pieterse’s compatriot Ghekiere clinched her second career win as she showed resilience on the gruelling mountainous route.<\/p>\n
Ghekiere raced away from a breakaway group in the final two climbs to cross the line in four hours 26 minute and 58 seconds which consolidated her position as the tour’s best climber.<\/p>\n
Maeva Squiban of France came home in second, one minute 15 seconds behind Ghekiere and just ahead of defending champion Demi Vollering in third.<\/p>\n
Dutch rider Vollering had outsprinted Niewiadoma on the home straight and pipped her on the line.<\/p>\n
Vollering lost the leader’s jersey on stage five after losing time in a crash near the finish, and is eighth in the standings, now 1:15 behind Niewiadoma.<\/p>\n
France’s stage six winner Cedrine Kerbaol lost time in the gruelling finish to come in 18th and is now third in the overall rankings.<\/p>\n
The final stage on Sunday is another for the climbers: a 149km mountain run from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez.<\/p>\n
It features a 13.8km ride to the summit at a gradient of 8.1 per cent, the riders also having to crest the Col du Glandon over 19.7km at 7.2 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n