'It’s so steep!' – Camera motorbike topples over as Annemiek van Vleuten rides to Tour de France Femmes glory

A camera motorbike toppled over as it tried to track Annemiek van Vleuten’s progress up the brutal Super Planche des Belles Filles climb at the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday. As the Movistar rider closed on a final-stage victory in the yellow jersey, the motorbike's lens was diligently fixed upon her as it crawled alongside the Dutchwoman. Ad/> But such was the iconic ramp’s steepness, topping out at 24%, it started to grind to a halt before rolling backwards near the summit and awkwardly falling to eject its driver and camera operator.

Tour de France Femmes'How fantastic is that?' — Rowe and Christmas revel in huge crowds on La Planche des Belles Filles4 HOURS AGO Eurosport expert Adam Blythe said it illustrated how tough the climb was. “I thought at one point she [Van Vleuten] was going to pull a wheelie and topple over the back. It’s so steep,” said Blythe on The Breakaway.

“You’re coming into it [the final ramp] at a slow pace anyway. Even for Annemiek to make it look hard shows just how tough it was. “We saw the other riders coming up to the line, all broken.

The officials at the top pushing them across the line.” 'I don't think anyone can replace her' — Could 'great' Van Vleuten's retirement be good for cycling? Opinion: Van Vleuten was the right winner of the first Tour de France of a new generation Van Vleuten was in a class of her own as she dominated the final two stages in the mountains to clinch the general classification by 3’48" from Demi Vollering (SD Worx), the only rider who dared to go with her during her extraordinary charge on Stage 7 before being dropped. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) took third overall at 6’35”. Van Vleuten battled illness and mechanical issues to win the first edition of