Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) was caught in no-man's land for over 100km to hold on to third place, but was caught by the chase group and finished in seventh place, about 7 minutes behind stage winner Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar). He had to give up his podium finish at the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift.

"I'm totally exhausted. I was alone for a really long time. For me, what really killed me was the valley, I gave it my all, that's all. In the end, if you do your best, that's all that matters. I really did my best," Longo Borghini said at the finish line in Le Marckstein.

Longo Borghini crossed the Petit Baron, the first of three climbs in the 127km 7th stage to Le Marckstein, alone after trying to chase the day's two leaders, Van Vleuten and Demi Vollaring (SD Works).

Van Vleuten had been suffering from stomach problems that she said began after the opening stage in Paris; COVID-19 was negative, but she said her illness continued until the third stage in Epernay. The Movistar team hoped she would recover in the week before the final two mountain stages.

If there were any doubts about van Vleuten's health, she put them to rest in the first of two days in the Vosges mountains with a solo run that earned her the stage 7 victory and the yellow jersey.

"Everyone knew she was the strongest. I didn't believe for one second that she was not good enough," Longoborghini said.

Longo Borghini said that mentally she felt she could go after Van Vleuten and Vollering, but physically, "my legs just didn't work."

Her solo chase came to an end after a long effort on the valley to the Grand Baron, the final climb of the day. It was "a 100-km time trial, a 100-km time trial, a 100-km time trial, a 100-km time trial, a 100-km time trial, a 100-km time trial. The valley was deathly hard, and the final climb was rock climbing.

Longo Borghini is now in seventh place overall, 6:15 behind overall leader Van Vleuten, and the race will come down to the finale of stage 8, which ends Sunday at the top of La Super Planche des Belle Filles.

Trek-Segafredo director Ina Toitenberg sees no chance for a stage win, and a similar scenario is likely to unfold as Van Vleuten outpaces her opponent on the three big climbs of stage 8. 'I think Anne-Mike would love to win stage 8 in yellow.'