SAINT-FRANCOIS-LONGCHAMP, France -- French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt took a commanding lead at the women's Tour de France after launching a solo attack on the final climb of Saturday's penultimate stage.
Ferrand-Prévôt is making her Tour debut at 33 years old and leads Australian rider Sarah Gigante by 2 minutes, 37 seconds and 2023 champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands by 3:18 heading into Sunday's final stage.
Last year's event had the smallest winning margin in the history of the women's and men's races, but Ferrand-Prévôt looks set to win far more comfortably, barring mishap.
She won the mountain bike gold medal at last year's Paris Olympics and the Paris-Roubaix classic in April.
Overnight, she trailed Mauritian rider Kim Le Court by 26 seconds heading into Stage 8 from Chambéry to Saint-François-Longchamp, which took the riders on a 69-mile trek into the mountains.
It featured an early climb of 8 miles up Col de Plainpalais before finishing with a tortuous ascent of 11.6 miles to Col de Madeleine, one of the most famed climbs in cycling.
Ferrand-Prévôt made a move on her main rivals about 5.5 miles from the top, pulling away to chase after Niamh Fisher-Black and Yara Kastelijn ahead of her. She soon caught them and then rode unchallenged to clinch the stage win.
Gigante crossed the line 1:45 behind her, while Fisher-Black rolled in 2:15 behind in third spot. Vollering placed fourth.
Sunday's ninth and final stage from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel is another mountainous route, with three big climbs, and is even longer at 77 miles.