Norway's Haugset wins stage 3 to claim Tour de France Femmes lead

Marlen Reusser triumphed in the time trial of the fourth stage during the Tour de France Femmes, securing the coveted yellow jersey. The Movistar rider, a time trial world champion, narrowly edged out Lieke Nooijen by four seconds. Demi Vollering finished third, 17 seconds behind Reusser, while Britain's Zoe Bäckstedt took fourth place.

Reusser maintained an average speed of 45.793kph over the 21km course, leading from the first checkpoint by 19 seconds. This marked her third stage win at the Tour, with two being time trials. On a scorching day in Burgundy, there were significant shifts in the general classification. The race leader from stage three, Sigrid Haugset, was replaced by Reusser after losing ground to her.

Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, and Elisa Longo Borghini all suffered varying time deficits. Vollering's closest challenger for the yellow jersey was just 14 seconds behind, while Cédrine Kerbaol climbed to third place, 54 seconds behind Reusser.

The British cyclist, Zoe Bäckstedt, finished fifth overall, her performance affected by a bike change. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot suffered the most significant loss, falling 2:12 behind Reusser, now placed 14th overall. Reusser expressed her joy in a TV interview, noting that this was her primary goal for the year.

"I’m super super happy," she said, "This was the idea that we had for a long time. It’s the first Tour de France that I saw as my goal for the year, I really targeted it. I am here as a leader, and I knew it was going to start in Switzerland, on Swiss national day, and we would have a TT on the fourth day, so it was our project Dijon. The yellow of the mustard. The yellow of the mustard."