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Australia’s Sarah Gigante has kept pace with the Tour de France Femmes leaders as France’s Maeva Squiban delighted home fans with a solo victory in the seventh stage.
The overnight victory was Squiban’s second in two days, making her only the fourth rider to claim back-to-back stages at the race.
Gigante, who moved into the leading group after finishing in the leading pack on Thursday AEST, came home in 16th place for the second day running, one minute and 11 seconds behind the winner.
The result meant the AG Insurance-Soudal rider slipped a place to eighth in the general classification, one minute and 14 seconds behind yellow jersey wearer Kimberley Le Court Pienaar.
Squiban, 23, made pace on the upper slopes of the Col du Granier to reach the finish of the hilly stage alone, which lifted the UAE Team ADQ rider to second in the polka dot jersey standings, level on 17 points with Dutchwoman Silke Smulders.
‘You have to give everything’
“Honestly, winning once on the Tour is already huge and now a second win…It was an incredible day. I think it was one of the hardest days of my life, mentally as well as physically. But you have to give everything,” Squiban said.
“On the last climb, I just wanted to lie down on the ground, and by the end, I think for the last 15 kilometres, I was barely present — I couldn’t hear anything in my ear.”
It was another French one-two as Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) crossed the line 51 seconds behind Squiban to take second place, and American Ruth Edwards was third.
A 17-rider breakaway had lit up the 159.7 kilometre stage from Bourg-en-Bresse, with Fiona Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal) becoming the first Irish rider to win an intermediate sprint at the Tour.
The move split on the Cote de Saint-Franc before Squiban’s decisive attack on the final climb. Mauritian rider Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) lost ground on the Granier but finished sixth to retain the yellow jersey.
Le Court is ahead of Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 26 seconds and Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) by 30 seconds.
Mountains classification leader Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) endured a difficult day and was distanced from the peloton before Squiban’s climb.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon was the only other Australian rider to finish inside the top 100 and she is 68th overall.
Sunday’s mountain stage will be from Chambery to Saint-Francois-Longchamp.
The place to watch the 2025 Tour de France — live, free and exclusive — plus the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is right here on the SBS On Demand Hub.
