Pieterse wins Tour de France Femmes stage four, Vollering retains lead

Dutch rider Puck Pieterse won stage four of the Tour de France Femmes as overall leader Demi Vollering took second place in a photo finish.

Pieterse finished the 122.7km ride from Valkenburg to Liege in a time of three hours 12 minutes 28 seconds, as she pipped Vollering on the line.

The 22-year-old’s victory was her first in a road race and lifted her to second in the standings – 22 seconds behind her compatriot.

It gave her the best young rider’s white jersey and the polka dot climb jersey.

Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland finished the stage in third and she trails Vollering by 34 seconds in the overall classification, while Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner of the United States sits fourth.

Pieterse said: “It’s quite unbelievable, actually. To take the win here, in a sprint against Demi is a dream come true.”

Niewiadoma was with the Dutch duo as they entered the final kilometre of the race and launched the dash early with the trio hitting 57km/h after a hilly day.

However, she peaked too soon which allowed Pieterse to open a small lead as defending champion Vollering left her own charge a fraction too late.

Thursday’s stage five is a 152.5km flat ride from Bastogne to Amneville as the race reaches France after spending the opening three days in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Selected others

23. Anna Henderson (GB/Team Visma) +1 mins 59

45. Pfeiffer Georgi (GB/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +6mins 33secs

72. Lizzie Deignan (GB/Lidl-Trek) +10mins 39secs

77. Becky Storrie (GB/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +11mins 56secs

85. Lizzie Holden (GB/UAE Team ADQ) +14mins 58secs

105. Alice Towers (GB/Canyon–SRAM) +15mins 47secs