Lorena Wiebes loses yellow jersey -"I always have to recover after such a sprint, and at that moment, I couldn't jump"

Lorena Wiebes could not defend her yellow jersey from Marianne Vos in the second stage of the Tour de France Femmes. Wiebes, who enjoyed yellow jersey for one day, finished in 6th position,30 seconds behind stage winner Marianne Vos.

Wiebes decided to go for the intermediate sprint in Provins but used too much energy ."I always have to recover after such a sprint, and at that moment, I couldn't jump. I had hoped a few more riders would jump to the front, then maybe I could have joined in. But alas,” Wiebes told NOS.

Vos, along with Elisa Balsamo and Elisa Longo Borghini, had already created a gap of 30 seconds by the time Wiebes recovered her strength. "After that, we did everything we could to bring it back, but the cooperation in the leading group was apparently good. They were smart to do that. Maybe I shouldn't have gone for the intermediate sprint, but that's in hindsight," said Wiebes.

The race also saw a major crash 25 kilometers before the finish line, which invovled Marta Cavalli and some other riders. "The roads were quite slippery. I also fell in the neutralization. In any case, it was really chaotic with the wind. Everyone wants to be in the front and then they lie down sometimes. Whether I was able to enjoy the yellow? Not really, especially if you fall immediately in the neutralization. But otherwise, it was a nice race to see,” concluded Wiebes. She holds 6th position in GC, 35 seconds behind overall leader Marianne Vos.