Greig Leach

Yesterday, Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) lost her lead in the Queen of the Mountains competition to Anouska Koster (Uno-X). However, she could consul herself with winning both the title of most combative rider of the stage, and more importantly, her first professional victory. I suspect that is a fair trade off for most. Apparently, not for her. She went over the first climb first as her rival for the polka dots struggled to hold onto the back of the peloton. As they neared the summit of the Cote de Laquepie she looked over at Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) to see if she was going to contest for the points on offer in a couple of hundred meters. Spratt shook her head. She was looking for stage honors and had no reason to contest the sprint for points. Nevertheless, Kastelijn took no chances and sprinted away to reclaim her Maillot a Pois. Behind her, still wearing the Maillot Vert on loan from the race leader in yellow, Asheigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick Step) just watches in case someone launches an attack to get away from the peloton.