Ladies Thalita de Jong fights her way to top 10 in GC Tour de France Femmes

On the Glandon, the second last climb, Demi Vollering attacked where only Pauliena Rooijakkers could follow. On the last meters of the Alpe d’Huez Vollering (Team SD Worx - Protime) made the move to the stage win, while Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) goes home with the yellow leader’s jersey. Thalita de Jong finished with a 13th spot, taking a top 10 in the general classification.

“It was a super tough stage today, after the whole week with a lot of stress and less sleep. To take this top 10 in the general classification of the Tour de France Femmes means a lot to me”, a happy Thalita de Jong said. “It’s unbelievable, I can’t be happier. I think every rider works towards this race, you have big teams at the start, you race on the highest level and then to end here with a top 10 is just fantastic. I’m super proud of my Lotto Dstny Team, of what we achieved here. We got the opportunity to ride here and we played a role in between the best riders.”

“It’s great to see the Tour de France Femmes getting the same amount of attention as the men’s race. It’s a big circus, it’s great to have been part of it. After some difficult times being back on this level is thanks to never giving up. Now I see the result of this, a good winter period and having the right team around me, where I just have a lot of fun.”

Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer