Stage 7 of the Tour de France Femme was not an easy day for non-climbers as the mountains arrived in earnest, many riders suffered crash wounds, and a brutal long-distance attack by Annemiek Van Fruten (Movistar) caused the pack to The final stage was a race-clinching day of hardship for many riders.

Thirteen riders were eliminated from the Tour de France Femme during the 127.1km stage to Le Markstein-Ferraring, which included three Category 1 mountains. Stage 4 winner Marlen Reusser (SD Work) was a DNS due to concussion, as was sprinter Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing-Exstra).

Then, during the stage, a large breakaway picked up the pace and soon began abandoning. Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), who was injured and stitched up in a crash on stage 6, retired early, along with Letizia Borgesi (EF Education Tibco SVB). As the stage progressed, even more riders failed to finish. Anne van Rooyen and Nicole Freyne (Parkhotel Valkenburg) were unable to finish due to injuries, as was Gladys Verhulst (Lukol Wahoo).

"It was a really hard day for me. I couldn't finish today, so this is the end of my tour," said Australian champion Frain in an interview with broadcaster SBS (opens in new tab). "There was a big time difference. The pace was on from the beginning."

And some riders overworked their bodies in an attempt to finish as quickly as possible, but to no avail. The challenge of finishing within the time limit on such an uphill day was made even more difficult by the fact that the pack broke up on the first big climb, the Petit Ballon. Van Vleuten attacked less than 50km into the race, and as Movistar's rivals scrambled to keep their GC hopes alive, the field was shattered as the riders were far off the back of the pack.

But even the top climbers in the peloton could not help but lose time to Van Vleuten, who finished in 3 hours 47 minutes 02 seconds. Only eight other climbers finished within 10 minutes of the new race leader on this stage. That, of course, meant that the pressure was not only on the riders who wanted to stay in contention for the overall, but also on those who were behind.

Last to make the cut was an exhausted Kim De Baart (Planteur Plat), who finished 38:20 behind Van Vleuten. Ukraine's Yulia Bilyukova (Arkea Samsic) was the first to cross the line, just ahead of Franziska Koch (Team DSM), Margaux Vizy (Valcar Travel & Services), and Anaïs Morichon of Arkea Samsic, also of France. By just over 41 minutes, they were all out of the running.

"Yulia Biliukova and Anaïs Morichon arrived 14 seconds behind the deadline. Thus, they will part ways with us tonight at the end of the final stage," Arkea Samsic said on Twitter.

"Thank you, girls.

More than 10 minutes further back, 22-year-old French rider India Granger (Stade Rocheret-Charentes-Maritimes) continued to battle on, with Emily Newsome (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) finishing last. The American finished 56:42 behind the stage winner. [While some teams, such as Trek Segafredo, Canyon Slam, and Jumbo Visma, still have a strong group of players, others have been seriously downgraded.

Of the teams with players at the top of the GC, the hardest hit is Team DSM, which has Juliette LaBouce in fourth place overall. With Vives' abandonment and Koch's failed time attack, only Riane Lippert and Georgi Pfeiffer are left to support Labouse in the final stage; sixth-place finisher Silvia Persico is left with three teammates from Valcar Travel & Service.

Many teams, like Valcar Travel & Service, are down to four, but they lost five teammates along the way, leaving only one solo rider. Hopes for the French team Stade Rocheret Charente-Maritime on stage 8 rest on the shoulders of 27-year-old Séverine Hérault, who was 23rd on Saturday.