The eighth and final stage was watched by many fans on Sunday, just like in the men’s race this year. The 39-year-old Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten overcame the competition in the showdown to La Super Planche des Belles Filles, as she had done the day before, and crowned herself the overall winner in impressive fashion.

With this, the Olympic time trial champion Van Vleuten won the women’s Tour de France, which was revived this year, and added another big success to her successful career. Van Vleuten plans to retire in 2023.

After eight stages and 1033.8 kilometres, she was 3:48 minutes ahead of her compatriot Demi Vollering, who finished second for the day, 30 seconds behind.

Van Vleuten had laid the foundation for her Tour triumph on Saturday when she put in a 62-kilometre solo ride on the mountain stage through the Vosges and took the stage win by more than three minutes. On Sunday, she was slowed down by a defect and had to ride on a team mate’s bike for a while, but she only let that stop her for a short time.