How the Race Finished
The very first yellow jersey of the first edition of the women’s Tour de France since 1989 went to Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), who has been nearly totally dominant in sprints this year. After 81km of loops along the Champs-Élysées and around the Jardin des Tuileries, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) went long, but on the other side of the famous road, Wiebes followed her, launching early, and winning on the line by a bike length.
The Main Action
After rolling out from the Eiffel Tower, the stage took its expected shape: a series of short-lived breakaways in groups of one or two, all kept under tight control as they headed towards a bunch sprint. French riders in particular took the chance to attack and show off their jerseys on the Champs-Élysées. The most notable was an attack from Gladys Verhulst (Le Col-Wahoo), who attacked after the singular categorised climb, and, out on her own, had 45 seconds with under ten kilometres to go. She was, however, eventually swallowed up by the sprint-leadouts.
The intermediate sprints were hard-fought, giving the first indication of who might be interested in the green jersey. Full team lead-outs strung out the peloton, nearly shattering it, with Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) winning the first, and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) taking the second.
There was one category 4 climb – though, on the city circuit, it was a little more than a gentle rise. With Femke Markus (Parkhotel-Valkenburg) and Anne Dorthe Ysland (Uno-X) off the front of the peloton as they approached the line, they both wanted to be wearing polka-dots tomorrow. Ysland attacked first, but Markus came around her to take the two points, and heartily celebrated it.
The peloton grew nervous as the final lap approached; there were several crashes, including one that forced Alana Castrique (Cofidis) to abandon the race. The colour-blocked lines of teams began to appear, including the dark bloc of DSM, shepherding the favourite, Lorena Wiebes. Verhulst was caught with just over 2km to go, with Movistar coming to the front, lead by the GC favourite, Annemiek van Vleuten. Jumbo-Visma and DSM were lined out behind them, with lurid pink of Valcar Travel & Service making an appearance. Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) drilled the pace on the front, though her teammate, Elisa Balsamo, would eventually end up boxed in. Van Dijk peeled off as they rounded the final corner, and Jumbo-Visma lead it out on the final strait, with DSM pulling up beside them; it was a drag-race between the two teams. Vos went early, and Wiebes followed. Each took one side of the road, but it was Wiebes who imposed herself, and took the first, significant yellow jersey of the Tour de France Femmes.
Results
Lorena Wiebes leads the yellow and green jersey competitions, but Lotte Kopecky will be wearing the green jersey tomorrow, lying second in the competition. Femke Markus will be wearing the first polka-dot jersey, and Maike van der Duin, after her sixth place on the stage, will be wearing the first white jersey. Canyon//SRAM lead the team classification.
In the stage results, Simone Boilard (St-Michel Auber 93) in eighth and Maike van der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo) in sixth are notable results for the smaller teams. Lotte Kopecky continued her push for the green jersey with a third place, with Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing Xstra) in fourth and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar). The world champion, Elisa Balsamo, only managed seventh.
