Movistar dresses in yellow at the Tour: Marlen Reusser wins the time trial and becomes the new leader

Marlen Reusser confirmed her status as the favorite in the time trial of the Tour de France Femmes 2026. The Swiss rider from Movistar completed the 21 kilometers between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon in 27:30, winning by just four seconds over a surprising Lieke Nooijen and snatching the yellow jersey from Sigrid Haugset.

Marlen Reusser wins the time trial and becomes the new leader of the Tour de France Femmes

The fourth stage also left significant gaps among the contenders for the general classification. Demi Vollering finished third, 18 seconds behind, and emerged clearly strengthened, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot lost more than two minutes and received the first major blow of this edition.

Reusser wins by just four seconds

The time trial featured a fast course, but not completely flat. The main obstacle was the Lacets de Marsannay, a climb of 1.8 kilometers at 6.9% located before the only intermediate point. After that, the riders faced a plateau section, a fast descent, and a practically flat approach to Dijon.

Lieke Nooijen set a high benchmark very early on. The Dutch rider from Visma-Lease a Bike clocked 27:34 and held the lead for a good part of the afternoon.

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Zoe Bäckstedt, one of the specialists highlighted before the start, finished 20 seconds off the best time. Mischa Bredewold and Kristen Faulkner also couldn't get close enough, while Nooijen began to believe in an unexpected victory.

The situation changed with the arrival of Marlen Reusser. The world and European time trial champion was already the fastest at the intermediate point, with a 20-second lead over Nooijen. However, the Visma rider put in an extraordinary second half and forced the Swiss to maintain her effort until the very last meter.

Reusser finished the clock at 27:30, just four seconds ahead of Nooijen. A minimal difference that allowed her to take the stage victory and complete the double with the race lead.

Vollering limits losses and emerges strengthened

Demi Vollering was the best of the main candidates for the overall victory. The Dutch rider passed the intermediate point 23 seconds behind Reusser, but completed an excellent second half and recovered five seconds to finish third, 18 seconds back.

The result leaves Vollering in a good position before the more mountainous stages. Although she lost time to Reusser, she gained ground on most of her direct rivals.

Elisa Longo Borghini finished tenth at 1:03, while Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney finished at 1:09. Both reasonably limited their losses on a course favorable to the top specialists.

Cédrine Kerbaol also delivered a standout performance. The French rider was seventh at 54 seconds, tied with Kristen Faulkner, and improved the times of several riders among the general classification contenders.

Ferrand-Prévot loses more than two minutes

The biggest loser of the day was Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The reigning Tour champion could not find an efficient aerodynamic position and began to lose time from the first kilometers.

The French rider was already 1:21 down before reaching the intermediate point and finished the stage 2:13 behind Reusser. A significant difference that complicates her options before Mont Ventoux, although there is still enough mountain left to try to recover ground.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar also suffered a severe setback. The Mauritian lost 2:23 to the winner, while Noemi Rüegg finished far from the best times.

Anna van der Breggen also did not perform at the expected level and lost more than a minute to Nooijen. Her result confirmed the difficulties she had already shown in the climbs of the previous day.

Haugset loses the yellow jersey

Sigrid Haugset had started the time trial with just over two minutes of margin over her main pursuers, following her spectacular breakaway in the Poligny stage.

The Norwegian could not defend that lead against a charging Reusser. At the intermediate point, she was already losing 2:05 to the Swiss and ended up relinquishing the lead she had conquered just 24 hours earlier.

Reusser will thus face the upcoming stages dressed in yellow, with Vollering as one of her closest rivals and already significant gaps over some of the top favorites.

Top 10 of stage 4 Tour de France Femmes 2026

1. Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) – 27:30
2. Lieke Nooijen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – at 4 s
3. Demi Vollering (FDJ UNITED-SUEZ) – at 18 s
4. Zoe Bäckstedt (CANYON//SRAM) – at 20 s
5. Mischa Bredewold (Team SD Worx-Protime) – at 45 s
6. Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) – at 54 s
7. Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) – at 54 s
8. Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) – at 55 s
9. Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) – at 1:01
10. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD) – at 1:03

General classification Tour France Femmes 2026 after stage 4

1. Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) – 11:47:36  
2. Demi Vollering (FDJ UNITED-SUEZ) – at 14 s  
3. Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) – at 54 s  
4. Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) – at 56 s  
5. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD) – at 1:03  
6. Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (CANYON//SRAM) – at 1:09  
7. Paula Blasi (UAE Team L’IMAD) – at 1:12  
8. Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx-Protime) – at 1:17  
9. Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM) – at 1:43  
10. Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – at 1:47

The Tour de France Femmes will now enter two challenging days before reaching Mont Ventoux. Reusser has proven to be the strongest rider against the clock, but she will have to defend the yellow jersey on terrain much more favorable to Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Longo Borghini, and the other climbers.