Demi Vollering (SD Works) was puzzled and disappointed to finish second on stage 4 of the Tour de France Femme, after thinking she had won the steep climb to Rodez.

Just after crossing the finish line and raising her hands in a somewhat hesitant victory salute, she was informed by officials that the breakaway, Jara Castellaine (Phoenix-Desseuninck), had already won the race over a minute earlier.

"I didn't know I hadn't won. I didn't know [that Castelline had won], and I wondered what had actually happened. But I'm disappointed that I didn't win," Volering said in goal.

"In the Tour de France you go for stage wins, and I haven't done that yet. The eight-second gap to Anne-Mike is ...... Well, I thought it would be more, so I'm not that satisfied."

The 177-km race between Cahors and Lodé, the longest on this Tour de France femme and on the Women's World Tour calendar, saw an overall battle behind a 14-man breakaway group with a gap of more than 10 minutes.

"It was a strange and hard day, and you could feel it at the finish," Vollering said. We don't have very long races, and it depends on the rider. We don't have many long races, and it depends on the rider. In a long race like today, no one could make up the difference and it was a different race. I was tired today."

As the SD Walks worked to close the gap to the breakaway group, yellow jersey winner Lotte Kopecky chased them alone.

"Lotte was very strong today. Lotte was very strong today. She ran today, and all her other teammates were working today, running in front of her all day. Lorena (Wiebes), Elena (Cecchini), Misha (Bredewald), and on the break, Kristine (Majerus) and Marlen (Reusser). Marlen (Reusser) was by my side all day," Volering said.

However, Castelline surged up from the breakaway and gained 50 seconds on his former escapees.

Vollaring attacked for the first time in the Tour de France femmes on the final Côte de Moirasse, and defending champion Annemiek van Grooten, in a symbolic moment early in the eight-day race, struggled to make contact with the leaders. struggled to regain it.

Many GC riders showed up, but all eyes were on the two Dutch rivals who were the overwhelming favorites in the yellow fight. Van Vleuten also attacked on the Côte de Laverne, but struggled to catch up to Vollering on the steep 13% gradient before the finish.

The two sprinted uphill and caught and passed the remnants of the early breakaway group, but Vollering said he had no idea that one rider, Castellaine, had not been caught and had already scored the stage win when he finished in second place.

"I wanted to win a stage in the Tour. Today I was close, but not close enough. I had no idea what was happening in front of me and in the end I caught Anouschka Koster (UnoX).

"I crossed the line but I didn't know if anyone from this group was still there, so I decided to celebrate anyway. If we don't win, we can always erase it so we can erase it."

Vollaring was eight seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten, but the disappointment of losing the stage did not disappear. He said, "But it didn't make up for the disappointment of losing the stage. "I thought I could have tried a little harder on the last climb, but after such a long race, I couldn't make any more difference"