Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes of team DSM won the first Tour de France Femmes stage, succeeding against compatriot Marianne Vos in the final sprint in Paris.
Wiebes from Team DSM beat three-timed road world champion Vos. Belgian Lotte Kopecky and also beat Italian Rachele Barbieri, taking third place and the last of the available bonus points.
“It’s amazing. The team did an amazing job,” Wiebes said. “It was a really chaotic sprint and also a long sprint. I was quite relaxed before the start. We did everything as normal, we saw it as a normal race, but of course, I was quite nervous towards the end.”
“It was really close, but luckily I could accelerate one more time and make it to the finish line.”
While there had been many versions of the women’s event until 2009, the new eight-stage race is the first time since 1989 that it has officially been held and hosted by the men’s Tour de France organizers.
Several attacks failed to threaten her along the 82km route, which had 12 laps of the iconic Champs Elysees circuit shown in the men’s Tour de France and previously in three editions of La Course by Le Tour de France in 2014 and 2016.
Vos, who won the first intermediate sprint, was supported well by her team in the closing stages and made a long dart for the finish line, but Wiebes timed her final push perfectly.
“My team did a perfect job,” said Vos. “They kept me out of trouble. Everything went perfect. When Lorena opened her sprint, there was nothing I could do.
Stage two will be another flat 136.4km route from Meaux to Provins.
Tour de France Femmes: Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes wins stage one.
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/62283230
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658698356035x700531223787717000/Tour%20de%20France%20Femmes_%20Dutch%20rider%20Lorena%20Wiebes%20wins%20stage%20one%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
Wiebes from Team DSM beat three-timed road world champion Vos. Belgian Lotte Kopecky and also beat Italian Rachele Barbieri, taking third place and the last of the available bonus points.
“It’s amazing. The team did an amazing job,” Wiebes said. “It was a really chaotic sprint and also a long sprint. I was quite relaxed before the start. We did everything as normal, we saw it as a normal race, but of course, I was quite nervous towards the end.”
“It was really close, but luckily I could accelerate one more time and make it to the finish line.”
While there had been many versions of the women’s event until 2009, the new eight-stage race is the first time since 1989 that it has officially been held and hosted by the men’s Tour de France organizers.
Several attacks failed to threaten her along the 82km route, which had 12 laps of the iconic Champs Elysees circuit shown in the men’s Tour de France and previously in three editions of La Course by Le Tour de France in 2014 and 2016.
Vos, who won the first intermediate sprint, was supported well by her team in the closing stages and made a long dart for the finish line, but Wiebes timed her final push perfectly.
“My team did a perfect job,” said Vos. “They kept me out of trouble. Everything went perfect. When Lorena opened her sprint, there was nothing I could do.
Stage two will be another flat 136.4km route from Meaux to Provins.
Tour de France Femmes: Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes wins stage one.
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/62283230
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658698356035x700531223787717000/Tour%20de%20France%20Femmes_%20Dutch%20rider%20Lorena%20Wiebes%20wins%20stage%20one%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
