Racing

TDFF Daily | Stage 4 | Noemi Rüegg sprints to fifth in Liège

Kristen Faulkner moves up to fourth on GC as our squad takes over the lead of the team classification

August 14, 2024

Noemi Rüegg charged out of the chasing group to finish fifth at the end of a brutal day of racing at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Stage 4 of the Tour was raced like a one-day classic on terrain borrowed from the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. With climbs like the Cauberg, Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges, and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons on the course, it was always going to be an explosive contest and that is what fans got.

The peloton attacked the hills as the Tour crossed from Valkenburg in Zuid-Limburg deep into the Ardennes around Liège. Kristen Faulkner, Magdeleine Vallieres, and Noemi did a great job to keep in front, as rain poured down onto the pavement, making the key selections, as all of the climbing wore out riders and their competitors were dropped.

On the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, a small group of GC favorites broke clear. Mags, Kristen, and Noemi went straight to the front to mount the chase, pulling hard over the final kilometers and down the descent into Liège, where Noemi sprinted to fifth.

Thanks to their efforts to keep the leading group in check, Kristen moved up to fourth on the general classification, less than a minute behind the yellow jersey. Our squad also took over the lead of the team classification.

Hear our riders thoughts from after stage 4.

Noemi Rüegg

It was really a tough race. It felt like a one-day race. The weather and the rain made it pretty hard. You had to be focused the whole race to be in the front. We had Kristen, Mags and me all really strong today. We made it over these climbs but just couldn’t follow the strongest three. Kristen and Mags gave everything to bring it back for me but in the end I got fifth. In the end it’s a really good day and I’m really proud of the other two. Thanks for the hard work. I’m happy with how today went. I’m starting to feel better day by day. After two really flat and hectic stages it’s nice to have some climbs again.

Magdeleine Vallieres

It was great. It’s nice to get some good feelings after the last two flat stages and to be back in the short mountains. We had a great team performance with Lotta and AJ helping us in the beginning and Kristen and I with the chase at the end for Noemi. We came up a bit short in the end but Noemi sprinted for fifth so we’re happy. So far there hasn’t been a stage where we haven’t been in the top five so it’s been a great Tour so far.

Kristen Faulkner

It was a hard day. It felt like a one-day race. It didn’t feel like a stage. It was raced pretty hard from the beginning. Positioning was important all day. The climbs were raced hard but not crazy hard until the end. It wasn’t until that last climb that it got hard; before that it was just about positioning and then riding a hard tempo up the climb. We got dropped on that last climb when the three got away and we tried to bridge it for Noemi but didn’t quite get there.

We were towards the front on that last climb but they just kind of rode away from everyone after a hard effort. No one could keep up with them on that climb. It was a steep one, a little too steep for my legs.

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