Race in stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes: Lorena Wiebes defeats Marianne Vos once again in a sprint finish to claim another victory
In the fourth stage of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, the 130.7km race from Saumur to Poitiers, an early breakaway formed, consisting of Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels), Tota Magalhães (Movistar), and Franzi Koch (Picnic-PostNL). Rijnbeek initially escaped solo, but was later joined by Magalhães and Koch, forming a three-woman break that reached an advantage of approximately 1:40 minutes around Richelieu.
However, the breakaway was eventually reeled in with 4km left to race. The stage concluded with a bunch sprint in Poitiers, where Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) emerged victorious, solidifying her status as the best sprinter in the competition.
Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) finished closely behind in second place, retaining the yellow jersey, while Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) completed the podium in third place in the sprint. This result further strengthened Wiebes' standing in the points classification (green jersey), while Vos maintained her lead in the overall classification (yellow jersey).
The stage featured only one fourth-category climb, providing a relatively flat course for the sprinters to shine. The sprint finish was incident-free, with no mass crashes reported.
In the breakaway, Magalhães and Koch went on without Rijnbeek, extending their advantage to 1:44 minutes at the 50km mark. However, the gap quickly melted, with the peloton closing in, and the breakaway was caught with 15km remaining.
Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) opened the sprint, but was overtaken by Wiebes, who launched her sprint at the 200-metre mark and held on to win. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) took the lead in the final sprint but was passed by Wiebes in the final metres.
The race started with 144 riders, but Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Mobility) and Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ) did not start due to illness.
[1] Tour de France Femmes - Stage 4 Results [4] Tour de France Femmes - General Classification after Stage 4
- Despite the efforts of Maud Rijnbeek, Tota Magalhães, and Franzi Koch in the breakaway during the Tour de France Femmes Stage 4, their advantage of approximately 1:40 minutes was not enough to maintain their lead, as they were caught by the peloton with 4km left.
- The Tour de France Femmes Stage 4, with its relatively flat course designed for sprinters, resulted in a thrilling sprint finish, with Lorena Wiebes claiming victory after overtaking Lotte Kopecky in the final meters, further solidifying her standing in the points classification (green jersey).
