Tourmalet stage sees Ella Wyllie rise up the GC

A great ride from Ella Wyllie saw the New Zealander finish 11th in the mist on the famous slopes. In a battle all day against white jersey rival Cédrine Kerbaol, she finally dropped her late on to take some time back before tomorrow’s final stage time trial. 

The stage started with attack after attack, which saw Margaux Vigié go clear for a brief time in a large group. Eventually, the big names pushed on and riders began to drop. That included Babette van der Wolf, the youngest rider in this year’s Tour de France Femmes. She abandoned the race but can look back on a strong 14th place earlier this week.

As the climbing began, Natalie Grinczer did great work looking after Ella Wyllie before eventually dropping back herself. Ella pushed on up the ascent of the Tourmalet, almost making contact with the group of favourites ahead, to finish just outside of the top 10.

The great result sees the Kiwi move up to 16th in the general classification with only the final day TT left. Natalie Grinczer also moved up several places to sit in 29th position.