Marlen Reusser wins Tour de France Femmes stage 4 time trial to take yellow

Marlen Reusser claimed the first yellow jersey of her career with a commanding victory in the Tour de France Femmes stage 4 time trial, powering over the 21km course from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon in 27 minutes 30 seconds.

The Swiss time trial world champion, 34, was the pre-race favourite against the clock and delivered, beating Lieke Nooijen's formidable benchmark by four seconds. Demi Vollering, third on the stage, conceded 18 seconds, while Britain's Zoe Backstedt — a junior world champion in the discipline — impressed on her debut Tour, finishing fourth, 20 seconds behind the winner.

The result reshuffled the general classification in the final week of the race. Sigrid Haugset, who started the day in yellow after her stunning solo breakaway two days earlier, lost more than three minutes and slipped to fourth overall. Reusser now leads Vollering by 14 seconds with three stages remaining, putting the Swiss rider in pole position for overall victory.

Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot endured a difficult afternoon in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius in eastern France, conceding 2 minutes 14 seconds to the stage winner.

Reusser admitted the stage had been a long-term target for her and her Movistar squad. "Of course, I'm super, super happy," she said. "This was the idea that we had since a long time — my goal of the year. I knew we were going to start in Switzerland on the Swiss national day, and we're going to have a time trial as the fourth day. We've been talking about it for a long time, Project Dijon, for the yellow colour of the mustard! To win the time trial and maybe take yellow. It worked out."

Stage 4 result: 1. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) 27:30; 2. Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4s; 3. Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) +18s; 4. Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-SRAM) +20s; 5. Mischa Bredewold (Boels Dolmans) +45s.

Sources

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/c78g1l7p2zjo