Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM) took the overall lead of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after conquering the Mont Ventoux, summit finish of Stage 7.
“Honestly, it’s hard to describe my feelings. I am speechless. I just feel so much gratitude. This victory goes to so many people that were with me throughout this very long period without claiming a big victory. I want to say thank you to almost everyone. I’m just so tired and so blown away with what just happened… When I started climbing, I looked to the right and I saw my parents standing on the roadside, because they came today by surprise to support me. I saw my father yelling for me and I thought I had to make him proud today. This victory goes to my family, to my friends, to my husband, to my team, to my coach, to my team’s boss… Because all of them know how much effort I have put into this victory. They were always by my side, listening to my complaints. I’m just blown away.”
“I never chase victories for the sake of winning. I target them because I like this beautiful feeling I have right now. I came here to Mont Ventoux with my friends and my husband, and we rode up the climb three times. We had fun, we sprinted, we did different efforts… and the feeling of reaching the top of this mountain was amazing. From that moment, I just wanted to experience that feeling again today. The pure joy of riding, as if I was a kid. Being a cyclist is so cool: you can pedal anywhere.”
“My idea was that I had to make it to Chalet Reynard on my own, because from then on the wind would be quite strong and the chasers would try to stay on each other’s wheel for as long as possible. Once I made it there, riding was hard because of the headwind but I knew that the riders behind me would just be playing the game.”
