'It's a great history we're making'

Kasia Niewiado na-Phinney talks to Cyclist about her record-breaking Tour de France win over Demi Vollering, the changes to women's cycling she'd like to see and the one race that still haunts her

- Words Robyn Davidson

A lot can happen in just four seconds. A dropped object falls 78.4m. The Earth travels 120km. A top sprinter runs 40m. A Grand Tour turns on its head.

When the Tour de France Femmes kicked off under cloud-covered skies in Brittany this July, many eyes were fixed on the colourful Canyon-Sram-Zondacrypto kit of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.

The defending champion was back on the start line after an enthralling edition in 2024 that culminated in the closest winning margin of victory for any Grand Tour in cycling history - four seconds - thanks to a dramatic climax on Alpe d’Huez.

As it turned out, Niewiadoma-Phinney couldn’t hold onto her crown in 2025, instead taking third place behind the woman she beat the previous year, Demi Vollering of FDJ-Suez, and winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma-Lease a Bike.

‘To be honest, when the race finished and I took third spot I was really happy because at that moment the podium was very satisfying,’ Niewiadoma-Phinney tells Cyclist. ‘Yet when a couple of days and weeks went by I started to feel disappointment or a lack of satisfaction. I was prepared for better than what I achieved.

‘It’s a learning process and something to take on for the next year. I have already marked a few points that I want to change for the next Tour and how to prepare differently. With the current speed of development and improvements that every single team shows, you have to always think outside the box to not only come to a race feeling better or stronger than last year, but having that extra something.’

Niewiadoma-Phinney has graced the podium of the Tour de France Femmes every year since the race was rebooted in 2022. Aside from that victory in 2024, she has finished third every other year, and each time she has shared the podium with Vollering.