Lorena Wiebes claimed the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday, surviving a tense finale before dominating the opening sprint in Lausanne.
The SD Worx-Protime sprinter beat Kim Le Court of AG Insurance-Soudal and Demi Vollering of FDJ United-Suez. Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Premier Tech finished fourth, with Noemi Rüegg of EF Education-Oatly fifth.
Lorena Wiebes answers late attacks
The stage carried clear sprint potential, yet it demanded more than a routine lead-out. Four categorized climbs and a hilly finish put Wiebes under pressure in the final kilometer.
Vollering attacked with 800 meters to go, and Le Court quickly followed. Elisa Longo Borghini reached them, and Wiebes fought back before launching the decisive sprint.
Wiebes said she “almost cannot believe it” after the win. She credited SD Worx-Protime for its work, including Anna van der Breggen’s late move to the front before Vollering attacked.
She said she still felt good when Celia Géry attacked first. EF Education-Oatly then moved up on the right, briefly blocking her before she found space and decided, “I need to go now.”
Breakaway shapes opening day
Maud Rijnbeek of Volkerwessels and Idoia Eraso of Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi jumped away soon after the start. Nikola Nosková of Cofidis and Océane Mahe of Ma Petite Entreprise joined minutes later.
Alison Jackson of St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 tried to bridge across with a long pursuit, but she could not make contact. The peloton allowed the break’s lead to grow to six minutes.
Eraso won the intermediate sprint, while Mahe led over the first two categorized climbs. Amanda Spratt attacked from the bunch before the day’s final hill, the Côte de Vulliens.
Mahe went solo there, but Spratt caught and passed her before joining Rijnbeek. They then reached Eraso, leaving three chasers 30 seconds behind Nosková with 25 kilometers remaining.
Marlen Reusser, one of the race favorites, crashed on a fast descent. The Movistar rider remounted and chased back to the peloton.
Nosková was caught by the chasers with 17 kilometers left. The remaining leaders stayed clear until six kilometers from the finish, when the peloton finally made the catch.
Early time gaps open among contenders
Le Court’s second place put her four seconds behind Wiebes overall. Vollering sits a further two seconds back after taking third on the stage.
Pieterse, Longo Borghini of UAE Team l’Imad, Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon-SRAM, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma-Lease a Bike, and Cédrine Kerbaol of EF Education-Oatly are all ten seconds down after missing the time bonuses.
Paula Blasi of UAE Team l’Imad and Van der Breggen finished eight seconds behind Wiebes on the stage. Both now stand 18 seconds off the first race lead.
Wiebes will not expect to challenge for the overall title, but Blasi and Van der Breggen lost early ground to general classification rivals. For Wiebes, the victory delivered Tour de France Femmes yellow for the second time in her career.
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