Marlen Reusser powered to victory in the fourth-stage time trial of the Tour de France Femmes on Tuesday, winning the race against the clock between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon and taking the yellow jersey. The Swiss Movistar rider posted the fastest time through the Côte-d’Or and moved to the top of the general classification with a ride that reset the standings.
The stage was a key moment in the race, and Reusser made the most of her opportunity. Starting alone and riding against the clock, she stopped the watch sooner than any of her rivals. By the finish in Dijon she had secured the stage win and collected enough of a margin to pull on the maillot jaune.
The day’s biggest casualty among the favourites was Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The French rider, who competes for Visma Lease a Bike, was distanced by the other contenders for the overall title and lost more than two minutes in the general classification battle. Afterwards she said: « I’m glad this day is over », summing up a difficult afternoon in which her hopes of challenging for the race lead suffered a serious blow.
Ferrand-Prévot’s loss of time was the most striking shift in the overall standings, but it was not the only one. The time trial separated many of the riders who had arrived in the Côte-d’Or with ambitions of winning the race, underlining how much can change in a single stage against the clock. Reusser, by contrast, produced a performance that put her firmly in the lead and gave her rivals a significant deficit to make up.
The Swiss rider’s victory also gave Movistar a stage success in the Tour de France Femmes. With the race leader’s jersey now on her shoulders, Reusser will be the rider everyone else is chasing when the race continues. For the general classification contenders who lost time on Tuesday, the next stages will offer a chance to recover, but the margins created in the Dijon time trial will not be easy to erase.
The Tour de France Femmes has already delivered several twists in its early stages, and Tuesday’s time trial has set up an intriguing battle for the days ahead. Reusser holds the upper hand for now, while riders such as Ferrand-Prévot must weigh the cost of a difficult day and decide how quickly they can respond. The race remains open, but the Swiss rider’s display against the clock has given her the strongest possible platform for the battles to come.
