An amazing second stage win from Maëva Squiban in as many days,As Dani Rowe said on TNT Sports: “She played her cards to perfection,” Thank you for reading the live blog today and for your messages,It was a pleasure to cover today’s exciting and dramatic racing,Join me on Saturday and Sunday for the final stages of this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

A race report is on its way and will be posted here soon.In a post-race interview, Kim Le Court Pienaar told reporters she had not been feeling good since the start of stage seven.She said:I wasn’t feeling so good since the start of the stage.It’s been a few days [that] I’ve been going through some stuff.The Mauritian rider for AG Insurance-Soudal added:My body just shut off but I never gave up.

I had to do the best descent of my life … With my team working so hard this week, it’s really, really hard to give up.I don’t want to dissapoint them and the people who’ve come out.She said she was “pretty happy” to have got back after being distanced from the group of GC contenders just before the finish.Asked if she thought she could hold on to the jersey over the final couple of days of the Tour, Le Court Pienaar replied:I don’t know.It depends how I recover tonight.

She finished the interview by looking ahead to tomorrow’s queen stage:I think tomorrow is going to be fireworks.Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) spoke to reporters after her stage seven win.Of her second Tour de France Femmes victory, the 23-year-old French rider said:Yes it was incredible.She said her aim was to attack from the start and although that didn’t work out, her and the team are “proud of what we did today”.Very humble.

After Annemiek van Vleuten, Charlotte Kool and Lorena Wiebes, Squiban becomes the fourth rider to win two consecutive Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stages.Not to mention, UAE Team ADQ only have three riders left in the race, having had four withdrawals.Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), 29ptsMaëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ), 17ptsSilke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco), 17ptsBrodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ), 14ptAnna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime), 4ptsLorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), 208ptsMarianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), 178ptsKim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), 133ptsDemi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), 108ptsAnna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime), 88ptsKim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), 22hrs 28mins 31secsPauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), +26secsKatarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM), +30secsDemi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), +31secsAnna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime), +35secsPauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), +1min 4secsCédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), +1min 9secsSarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), +1min 14secsÉvita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), +1min 35secsJuliette Labous (FDJ-Suez), +1min 35secsNot much movement on the GC rankings, with no change in position of the top six placed riders.Cédrine Kerbaol moves up two spots to seventh place, while Sarah Gigante drops one.Évita Muzic is up to ninth from tenth place and Juliette Labous moves up to 10th from 11th.

Puck Pieterse drops four positions from eight position to 12th.1.Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) 2.Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) +51secs 3.Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) +51secs 4.

Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) +53secs 5.Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) +1minMaëva Squiban – what a rider! Two days, two wins.Incredible.She was on the front page of the L’Équipe sports section today, I expect she’ll be back on it tomorrow.The French fans will be delighted, as are the rest of us Tour de France Femmes followers.

That was fabulous and intelligent racing from the 23-year-old.1km to go: Squiban is through the flamme rouge and approaches the finish with a big grin on her face.What an incredible ride from the 23-year-old!3km to go: Le Court Pienaar is back! She’s with the Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Ferrand-Prévot and van der Breggen group.Edwards, Meijering and Van Anrooij are chasing Squiban but she’s got more than 1min on them.Surely this is Squiban’s if nothing unfortunate happens.

5km to go: I imagine Colin who emailed in earlier (see 1.07pm BST) about the skill required for descending must be enjoying Squiban’s work here.She is smashing it!8km to go: Le Court Pienaar is not giving up.She has the group of GC favourites in her sight and is in an aerotuck (there’s a rule now that you have to keep your behind on the saddle, to avoid riders sitting on their top tube down descents).11km to go: Le Court Pienaar could be in a bit of trouble here.

She’s 30 secs behind but she can’t afford to let that group of GC contenders get away on this descent,Out front, Squiban looks to be repeating yesterday’s victory,Head down, she’s spinning furiously and confidently towards the finish,13km to go: A powerful chasing group including Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Ferrand-Prévot and van der Breggen are sweeping down the descent,They’re 1min 5secs behind Squiban.

16km to go: Squiban, cheered on by large crowds at the summit of Col du Granier, passes under the QOM banner,She’s now descending – it’s a 17km technical sweep towards the finish,Demi Vollering attacks on the climb!18km to go: Iris Slappendel is on the back of the moto for TNT Sports and is behind Squiban on the climb,She says the UAE Team ADQ is “on fire”,Slappendel points out that the final 2km of the Col du Granier is steep, open and windy.

Again, on Squiban, Slappendel says:She is looking amazing,She has nothing to lose any more,She has been set free,Anything she wins now is a bonus …She must have got such a confidence boost out of yesterday … she is carried by all the crowds on the Col du Granier here,They’re all rooting for her.

19km to go: Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) has caused some damage in the peloton, as she ascends the final climb at speed.Kim Le Court Pienaar is dropped.At the front Squiban cools herself down with a bidon and pushes the pedals.It’s not too much further to the top and then there’s a 17km descent to the finish.Plus, Meijering has been dropped.

20km to go: Squiban and Meijering are ahead with 4km to go until the summit of the category two Col du Granier.Squiban signals to Meijering to take a turn and then shakes her head in frustration.22km to go: Squiban has bridged across to Edwards and Meijering.Rijnbeek is slightly behind the leading trio now, with Van Anrooij.Scratch that, Rijnbeek and Van Anrooij have made it across to make it a group of five.

Squiban is fired up!24km to go: Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) and Mareille Meijering (Movistar) have joined Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels) and have got almost 30secs on the 10 counterattackers remaining from the breakaway earlier.As I write though, that gap is being brought down as the climb continues.26km to go: Rijnbeek has 24secs on the poursuivantes.She managed to take advantage of a stalemate in the breakaway where the riders slowed and were eyeing each other up, looking to see who would put in the work.The Dutch VolkerWessels’ rider has just passed under the polka dot banner marking the start of the final climb.

30km to go: Fenix Deceuninck have been setting a high pace in the peloton, with the gap to the breakaway which had been up to 5mins being reduced to 3mins 9secs.Côte de Berland result:1.Squiban, 2pts 2.Rijnbeek, 1pt32km to go: Rijnbeek attacks and gets a little distance as the group meanders behind her.They’ll face the Col du Granier in about 5km.

34km to go: The breakaway reach the summit of the short and sharp category four Côte de Berland (1.2km at 7.2%).Squiban is first over the line as the group rolls over it close together.It’s up, up, up from here as the riders continue to ascend before the final and descisive climb, the category two Col du Granier.

35km to go: The breakaway has swelled to 13 riders, with Janse, Rijnbeek, Arzuffi and Jastrab making it back to the group at the bottom of the descent.The break now has just over 5mins on the peloton.37km to go: The TNT Sports’ commentators are calling it and think the breakaway will go all the way to the line.They highlight the fact that there are some very strong riders in this group.Behind, Lorena Wiebes has led the peloton on the descent of Côte de Saint-Franc, with Anna van der Breggen close behind.

42km to go: Here are the results from the Côte de Saint-Franc climb for QOM points:1.Squiban, 5pts 2.Van Anrooij, 3pts 3.Kopecky, 2pts 4.Meijering, 1pt46km to go: Jansen has also been dropped from the breakaway.

Yesterday’s stage winner, Squiban, is the first rider to reach the summit of Côte de Saint-Franc.Ghekiere, Squiban, Van Anrooij, Dygert, Kopecky, Edwards, Meijering, Le Net, and Le Mouel form the leading group now.Marc has emailed from Mauritius with a simple message for Kim Le Court Pienaar, who is in the yellow jersey.He says:ALLEZ KIM.50km to go: The ascent of the Côte de Saint-Franc climb has splintered the breakaway; Brand, González, Andersen and Mangan, among others, have been dropped.

Iris Slappendel, who is on the back of the moto for TNT Sports, says it is really hot out there,She has an ice sock that she says she’s excited to use,56km to go: The first categorised climb of the day, the second category Côte de Saint-Franc (3,8km at 6,9%) is coming up soon.

The break are almost 4mins ahead of the 112 riders in the peloton,64km to go: The 17-rider breakaway (for full list, see 1,19pm BST) have a gap of 3min 46secs on the peloton,Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels), Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Elyne Roussel (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) have been dropped and are 2min 16secs behind the bunch,Mark, who also got in touch during the Tour de France live blogs, has emailed in:Thanks for coverage, Amy and the Guardian.

We used to say, for every uphill, there’s a downhill,,,,But now 66, I am better at downhill riding.

Also, I am very good at eating cheese and hope Les Femmes will return to Chambéry for their just desserts after the Tour.They are admirable athletes all.I think he means literal desserts.A quick online search tells me Chambéry excels at sweet treats, with traditional highlights including the Biscuit de Savoie, Au Fidèle Berger, Brioche de Saint-Genix and chocolate truffles.I am not a pâtisserie expert so this is by no means an exhaustive or a 100% reliable list