(Reuters) – Swiss rider Marlen Reusser went solo to win a hilly fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes with Dutch great Marianne Vos retaining the yellow jersey on Wednesday.
SD Worx rider Reusser attacked with just over 20km remaining on the 127-km ride from Troyes to Bar-sur-Aube and powered home more than a minute ahead of her closest pursuers.
Vos safely negotiated several gravelled climbs as she finished alongside most of the other GC contenders.
She remains 16 seconds ahead of Italy’s Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon SRAM) with half the race remaining.
“We did it, the team had the plan to make it a hard race and not let it calm down, then one could go and luckily it was me,” Reusser told Eurosport. “This kind of stage suited me.”
Spanish champion Mavi Garcia saw her hopes of overall victory all but disappear as she crashed after clipping her own team car.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
