NICE, France -- Demi Vollering launched a blistering attack to win the eighth stage of the Women's Tour de France and take the yellow jersey heading into Sunday's final stage.
The Dutchwoman upped the pace on Saturday's fourth and final small climb, and Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney cracked with about four miles to go, sitting back down in her saddle as 2023 Tour winner Vollering surged ahead.
As Vollering zoomed along the famed Promenade des Anglais by the seaside in Nice, Niewiadoma-Phinney and former Giro d'Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini could not close the gap.
"It's funny, but only this morning I saw myself taking the yellow jersey," Vollering said. "I thought it might come true, that maybe that's the way things should be. During the day, I tried to remind myself I could do it."
Vollering raised her arms triumphantly at the line then sat on the ground and panted heavily as she tried to get her breath back.
"I was in so much pain, I can hardly describe it, but I made it happen," Vollering said. "This goes to prove that if you really believe in something, if you dream big, it doesn't matter how much risk you take or how much pain you have to go through."
Longo Borghini was second and Niewiadoma-Phinney was third, both 17 seconds behind. The day belonged to Vollering, who won the Giro d'Italia this year to complete the hat trick of Grands Tour wins.
She is eight seconds ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney, the 2024 champion, in the overall standings. The Polish rider took the yellow jersey with a brilliant solo win up Mont Ventoux on Friday and rode a yellow bike to go with it in Stage 8.
The 107-mile route from Sisteron to Nice on the southeast coast was mostly flat for sprinters but featured four minor climbs that made it a little more tricky.
With the main title contenders initially saving energy for Sunday's tough-looking decisive stage in the hills around Nice, the yellow jersey group let Frenchwoman Maeva Squiban and Dutchwoman Loes Adegeest form a long breakaway.
Squiban slid off her bike heading into a turn on a downhill section and landed heavily on her left side. She had cuts and grazes and screamed in agony as a medic on a motorbike tried bandaging her arm while she was riding. She carried on riding despite the pain while, up ahead, Adegeest was caught inside the last nine kilometers.
Stage 9 features four sharp climbs of Col d'Èze, which is nestled in the hills overlooking the tiny Principality of Monaco.
Two years ago, Niewiadoma-Phinney beat Vollering on a final day mountain stage to win the race by four seconds.
Vollering will have to ensure it's not a case of déjà vu.
"Tomorrow's course is going to be super hard," she said. "We know it from the beginning of the Tour."