Charlotte Kool had a complicated season but it is all coming together at the Tour de France Femmes. Today Lorena Wiebes was in front and at her best, but the yellow jersey Kool has won yet again with an impressive sprint, consolidating her race lead.
Today is an important day in the race, with two stages on the menu. The first of which is a completely flat day in the Netherlands with a finale in Rotterdam after 68 kilometers which the sprinters should be able to take advantage of. Hence, not a complicated start.
Right in the first minutes of the stage there was a crash that created quite a bit of chaos and split the peloton. This was later undone, but the fast pace meant there was no breakaway on the day. For a few kilometers, Belgian Audrey De Keersmaeker rode ahead of the peloton but there weren't realistic chances of succeeding. She was caught with 10 kilometers to go as the sprint was starting to get set up.
A crash just inside the final 3 kilometers affected a few Jayco riders and the peloton split quite a bit. The sprinters wouldn't slow down however and a furious leadout saw plenty teams go into the final kilometer in front once again. This time around SD Worx was in front and with her leader not experiencing a mechanical.
Wiebes was the first to launch her sprint and it seemed like she was on her way to the victory, but perhaps it was too early and the yellow jersey Charlotte Kool managed to follow in the wheel and then in the final meters come through to win in yellow. Marianne Vos sprinted to third on the day.
1 | KOOL Charlotte | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 50 | 01:32:49 |
2 | WIEBES Lorena | Team SD Worx-Protime | 40 | + 00 |
3 | VOS Marianne | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 30 | + 00 |
4 | HENTTALA Lotta | EF-Oatly-Cannondale | 25 | + 00 |
5 | BALSAMO Elisa | Lidl-Trek | 20 | + 00 |
6 | BARBIERI Rachele | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 18 | + 00 |
7 | DE ZOETE Mylene | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | 15 | + 00 |
8 | COLES-LYSTER Maggie | Roland | 10 | + 00 |
9 | ALZINI Martina | Cofidis Women Team | 8 | + 00 |
10 | PIETERSE Puck | Fenix-Deceuninck | 6 | + 00 |
11 | SCHWEINBERGER Kathrin | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | + 00 | |
12 | FAHLIN Emilia | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
13 | DE JONG Thalita | Lotto Dstny Ladies | + 00 | |
14 | AHTOSALO Anniina | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
15 | KERBAOL Cédrine | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | + 00 | |
16 | BERTIZZOLO Sofia | UAE Team ADQ | + 00 | |
17 | LE COURT Kim | AG Insurance-Soudal Team | + 00 | |
18 | TOMASI Laura | Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi | + 00 | |
19 | SCHREMPF Carina | Fenix-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
20 | ARZUFFI Alice Maria | Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling | + 00 |