Marlen Reusser justified her status as the pre-stage favorite by winning the individual time trial and taking the Tour de France Femmes yellow jersey in the process on the race’s fourth day.Reusser, a specialist in the discipline, finished four seconds ahead of Lieke Nooijen, but the story of the day was Demi Vollering.The Dutch rider finished 18 seconds behind the stage winner but, crucially, almost two minutes ahead of reigning champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to move second in the General Classification (GC), 14s behind Reusser and 1 minute and 59 seconds ahead of Ferrand-Prevot in 14th.The time trial was a 21-kilometer route from Gevrey-Chambertin into Dijon, eastern France, with one climb of 1.8km at 6.9 percent. It therefore was not suited to the climbers, and demanded a punchier racer.Elsewhere, Welsh rider Zoe Bäckstedt finished fourth, only two seconds behind Vollering. American Kristen Faulkner of EF Education Oatly was sixth, 0.17 seconds in front of teammate Cédrine Kerbaol.The Athletic breaks down the first decisive GC battle.What does Ferrand-Prevot do now?The 2025 champion was not at all suited to this stage. While she has had success at flatter races, like winning the classic Paris-Roubaix last year, the Frenchwoman tends to slim down for summer and will be in better climbing shape than the more powerful puncheurs.That said, a GC gap of 1:59 to Vollering is significant and could change the way she rides the rest of the race.“I did my best and I pushed as hard as I could,” Ferrand-Prevot said afterwards. “Now there’s nothing I can do. We will see how big the gaps are and we will make a plan. It’s also good now to not be the favorite. It’s like, ‘OK, I need to catch them.’ It’s also something I like.”Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won last year’s Tour de France Femmes. (Nicolas Tucat / AFP via Getty Images)A fire in her belly is exactly what she needs. Ferrand-Prevot won last year with a decisive climb on the Col de la Madeleine, creating an insurmountable gap to her rivals.The 34-year-old might not be able to do that on Mont Ventoux, however, which has a different profile and — fearsome as it is — has a kilometer of less steep road, which will allow climbers to regroup on. The Madeleine climb, on the other hand, was relentless all the way up.Ferrand-Prevot will need to attack, and Wednesday could be a good day to do so. She told reporters a plan will be made — it may prove different to the one she and her team would have anticipated at the start of the day.Does Vollering have one hand on the overall win?The Dutchwoman has been consistent, chipping away seconds here and there while staying at the front of the peloton. This stage was less a chip, more a punch.Vollering had fallen on Monday’s stage, raising questions over how she might perform for the rest of the week. Her response was emphatic. This time trial has put a significant cushion between herself and her biggest rival, setting her up nicely for the rest of the week.With the hardest stages still to come, it is far too premature to pick a winner, but Vollering is on-song and has made herself the one to beat.