Lorena Wiebes secures victory in the first stage of Tour de France Femmes

Lorena Wiebes has won the first stage of Tour de France Femmes. She was the fastest amongst her rival in the sprint to cross the finish line.

Krista Doebel-Hickok tried to create the gap early in the stage, but her attempt failed. Then Dutch rider Nina Buysman lead the breakaway along with seven other riders. Mischa Bredewold (Parkhotel Valkenburg) and Emily Newsom (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) soon launched a counterattack and created a 40-second gap. The peloton caught up to the breakaway riders 49 kilometers before the finish line.

Femke Markus secured the first polka dot jersey of the tour. Gladys Verhulst (Le Col-Wahoo) took a lead of 45 seconds 10 kilometers before the finish line . The peloton caught Verhulst 2 kilometers before the finish.

With just two kilometers to go everyone was ready to sprint. Ellen van Dijk went in front in the last kilometer but It soon changed to Marianne Vos. Lorena Wiebes overtook Vos in the last few meters and narrowly secured her first win in the stage. Vos followed soon and finished second. Lotte Kopecky finished third. Lorena Wiebes is the overall leader in GC.