The plan was hatched a year ago. The execution was clinical. And now Marlen Reusser wears yellow at the Tour de France Femmes after delivering a time-trial performance that combined surgical precision with sheer suffering.
The Swiss rider destroyed the 21-kilometre test between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon on Tuesday, claiming both the stage victory and the race lead in what she’d dubbed her “mustard plan” a cheeky reference to Dijon’s famous condiment and a year’s worth of targeting this exact moment.
“It worked, and I’m really happy. This was my objective here. We called it our ‘mustard plan’,” Reusser revealed after the finish, lying flat on the floor, chest heaving, completely spent from an effort that pushed her world-class engine to its absolute limit.
But here’s where it gets spicy: pre-race favourite and 2023 champion Demi Vollering finished just 18 seconds slower on the day and trails Reusser by only 14 seconds overall. That’s razor-thin. This Tour is far from decided.
The yellow jersey math
Reusser’s overall lead sits at a precarious 14 seconds over Vollering, with defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot now 2 minutes 13 seconds off the pace and 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma 1 minute 9 seconds down.
Those numbers suggest Ferrand-Prevot and Niewiadoma face mountain-sized deficits. But dismiss the Frenchwoman at your peril. Last year, she obliterated Vollering by over three minutes in the penultimate stage en route to claiming the title. When the road points upwards and suffering becomes currency, Ferrand-Prevot trades at a premium.
Vollering, the superior climber compared to Reusser, appeared to have carefully measured her time-trial effort. No collapsed-on-the-floor theatrics. No gasping for oxygen. Just controlled power that kept her within striking distance whilst conserving energy for the brutal climbing stages ahead.
That’s tactical nous from a rider who knows 14 seconds can be clawed back with one well-timed attack when the gradient hits double digits.
The mustard plan unfolds
Reusser, the world time-trial champion and qualified doctor who understands human physiology better than most, had been plotting this moment since last year’s race concluded.
“It wasn’t perfect, perfect, but it was good,” Reusser admitted with the self-critical honesty of an elite athlete who sees flaws invisible to mere mortals. “I started well, I did a good climb, but I had a little bit of a problem with my bike and the wind.”
The image of Reusser prostrate on the ground post-finish, lungs screaming, muscles flooded with lactic acid, captured everything about time-trialling at this level. You leave nothing behind. You empty the tank completely.
Mont Ventoux looms large
Fourteen seconds. That’s all that separates Reusser from Vollering. And on Friday, they’ll both face the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux, the mythical moonscape climb that has broken legends and crowned champions.
If Reusser is to claim her first Tour de France Femmes title, she must survive Ventoux whilst Vollering, the better climber, hunts those 14 seconds with the ferocity of a rider who knows time-trialling isn’t her weapon but climbing absolutely is.
Ventoux doesn’t care about yellow jerseys or mustard plans. It only respects suffering, and it reveals who can suffer longest at altitude where oxygen thins and legs scream for mercy.
Wednesday’s fifth stage offers an earlier test, featuring eight hills that culminate in the Beaujolais region. It’s not Ventoux, but it’s selective enough to cause damage if Vollering or others decide 14 seconds is too tempting to wait for Friday to attack.
The race to Nice
Sunday’s finish on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice represents the destination, but the journey between now and then promises brutal attrition. Reusser holds yellow, but defending it requires surviving terrain that favours her rivals.
Vollering possesses climbing superiority. Ferrand-Prevot proved last year she can demolish time gaps when roads point skyward. Even Niewiadoma, sitting over a minute down, knows one bad day for Reusser and one brilliant day for herself could swing everything.
Yellow suits Reusser. Let’s see if she can wear it all the way to the Riviera.
