Lorena Wiebes took Team SD Worx’s second stage victory in this Tour de France Femmes in Montignac-Lascaux on Tuesday with a convincing sprint. On the line, Wiebes got the best of Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo Visma), with Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) rounding out the stage podium. Wiebes is the first rider to make it three stage wins in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (Vos and van Vleuten have 2), and the first to win both in 2022 and in 2023. This is also the 50th win of the year for Team SD Worx. Yellow jersey wearer Kopecky launched the sprint perfectly for Wiebes and still claimed her third place, as well as four bonification seconds. “Lotte provided the perfect lead-out. When I felt Marianne Vos coming past me, I knew it was time to go full on. I am happy to be immediately successful in the first bunch sprint of this Tour,” Wiebes said.
In this third stage of the Tour de France Femmes, courageous attacker Julie van de Velde seemed to make it. Buoyed by a chasing peloton, the Belgian was not caught until a heartbreaking two-hundred metres from the line.
Wiebes said of her 3-stage record, “I am very happy to finish straight away at the first sprint opportunity and thus win my third Tour stage in my career.”
“There are tough days ahead, where we wanted to keep Demi Vollering in good position. Therefore, we wanted to save energy and see what the other teams would do. I know DSM’s racing style from last year and knew they would stick to their plan. You always have to finish someone else’s plate before you start yours. It’s nice that we already have two stage wins under our belt. Winning the Tour de France Femmes obviously remains the main goal.”
Thanks to her third place, Lotte Kopecky increased her lead in the general classification by four seconds going into stage 4. “I am happy that Lorena wins this stage. It’s a luxury that we can share it like this within the team. It was all hands on deck in the final. Julie van de Velde was really strong. I was shocked that it took so long to catch her, because Team dsm-firmenich was chasing her in the final. When my lead-out was over, I kept sprinting to get the maximum out of it.”
Lorena Wiebes’ win was also the 50th win this season. “This group is super attuned to each other,” said the European champion after adding the ‘golden’ victory to the team’s record. “It’s give and take at Team SD Worx and we just ride full for each other. Fifty is super nice, but I hope it doesn’t stop here. Hopefully at the end of this round we can take home the best jersey.”
