Tour de France Femmes stage 6: Emma Norsgaard claims stunning breakaway win

Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) won stage 6 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in the most surprising fashion, as the breakaway took stage honours for the third day in succession and shocked the peloton, who were all preparing for a sprint finish in Blagnac.

The afternoon had been a rudimentary affair for the most part, but the peloton’s frenzied efforts saw them fail to catch the breakaway inside the final kilometre.

The leading trio of Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM), Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT) and Norsgaard were kept on a tight leash for the majority of the day, but Skalniak-Sójka and Norsgaard were able to stay clear until the final moments.

Sensing a special opportunity, Norsgaard unleashed her sprint and held off the charging sprinters by a single second over the line.

It was an incredible effort by the Danish rider, taking her first road race victory of the year, and providing Movistar with a morale boost ahead of the final weekend of the Tour. Crossing the line almost immediately after Norsgaard were Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), who will rue their missed opportunity at the final chance for a sprint finish.

“I’m lost for words really, it has been a really difficult start to the year so I am really lost for words,” cried an emotional Norsgaard after the stage. “I want to thank everyone around me, my family, my husband, the team… for still believing in me after being out the whole spring. I am super emotional, it is the biggest victory ever - I am so happy.

“I am not a sprinter anymore, I have to realise it, I might be fast but I can’t keep up with the real sprinters. I took a chance today and reached out for the stars, and here we are.”

Breakaway prevents the final sprint of the race

Stage 6 of the Tour de France France Femmes avec Zwift was always going to be a valuable opportunity for the peloton’s sprinters, with only a summit finish atop the Col du Tourmalet and Sunday’s individual time trial to come before the end of the race. As such, the day was destined to be a controlled affair and so it turned out - until the vital moments - as a group of three riders spent the majority of the afternoon on a tight leash from the peloton.

After leaving Albi for the start of the stage, April Tacey (Lifeplus Wahoo) and Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) initiated the first attacks, but it was Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM) and Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT) who formed the first major breakaway after 27km. The Canyon-SRAM rider dropped Alonso on the first categorised climb of the day, whilst Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) attacked from the peloton and looked to join the leading duo.

With Alonso shown a clean pair of heels by Skalniak-Sójka, it was up to Norsgaard to reinstate some faith in the Spaniard, and the two mounted a chase of the lone leader of the race. On the second categorised climb, Alonso and Norsgaard made the bridge up to Skalniak-Sójka and the three-woman breakaway was established for the rest of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Lotta Henttala of AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep was disqualified from the race for holding onto her team car and closing a gap to the peloton that had stood at over a minute, with the offending driver, Servais Knaven, also ejected from the Tour. Prior to stage 6, news had emerged of Danny Stam’s expulsion from the race, following the SD Worx manager’s conduct at the wheel of his car the previous day.

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Emma Norsgaard and Sandra Alonso push on in the Tour de France Femmes breakaway

On the Côte du Clos Pourtié (2.8 km à 4.7%), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) piled on the pace in the peloton and her efforts saw many riders dispatched from the back of the group - Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) included. It would take 10km of chasing for the stage contender to return to the group alongside her teammates, with the Dutch squad immediately heading to the front of the peloton in order to regain control.

Control was lacking elsewhere, however, with Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), Kathrin Hammes (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT), Julie Van De Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) all involved in a heavy crash within the peloton. It was Ewers who appeared to leave the crash worst off, having spent a few minutes in a roadside ditch.

Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) momentarily launched a chasse patate but was soon caught, as Lotte Kopecky extended her lead in the green jersey at the intermediate sprint and the gap to the three leaders on the race hovered around one and half minutes.

It was Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team ADQ and dsm-firmenich who contributed their efforts to pace the peloton as they headed towards the stage finish in Blagnac, with the gap standing at 57 seconds with 10km to go. Crashes from Loes Adegeest (FDJ-SUEZ) and Camille Fahy (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) could not deter the peloton and for a long time, a catch before the finish appeared inevitable - but Norsgaard had other ideas.

Sensing weakness from her two companions, Norsgaard attacked with 3.5km and this saw Alonso’s day at the front come to an end, whilst Skalniak-Sójka turned herself inside out to stay on the Dane’s wheel. Taking a gap of 13 seconds heading into the final 2km, the leading duo were hopeful and the peloton appeared fearful, with Jumbo-Visma frantically sending their entire fleet of riders to the front. It was not to be enough for the peloton, however.

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Emma Norsgaard strikes a blow to SD Worx ahead of the Tour’s final weekend

With her dream within touching distance, Norsgaard opened her sprint from behind Skalniak-Sójka with 500m to go, as the peloton reached out to try and make the catch. It was too little, too late from the bunch, and despite rounding the Polish rider before the line, they were unable to bridge across to Norsgaard, who roared to her first road victory of the season.

Race leader Lotte Kopecky thumped her handlebars in frustration as she crossed the line only a second behind Norsgaard, but the Belgian was forced to settle for third as Charlotte Kool pipped her to second.

We’ll be showing live and on-demand coverage of all eight stages of this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from Sunday, July 23 to Sunday, July 30. Head over to GCN+ now to check the start times of each broadcast so that you don’t miss out on a moment of the action! As always, territory restrictions will apply.