"They see me and nobody is pulling anymore" - Lorena Wiebes gambled on Tour stage 2 but could not catch escaped rider

The second stage of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift prepared a hilly course in west France, culminating with an uphill finish in Quimper. While a battle between best classics specialists and GC riders was expected, Mavi García stole the show with a solo victory. Much of that success can be attributed to a stalemate that occured in peloton behind.

Lorena Wiebes ultimately surprised herself to hang on with the group of favourites and in subsequent sprint for second place left no room for doubt about who's the fastest woman. But interestingly, her team SD Worx - Protime got hardly involved in the chase behind García at all.

"I think for people it’s strange that maybe I’m not super frustrated," Wiebes told Cycling Weekly after the stage. "I was kind of free today to see how far I could come. We are never sure, and that’s why we didn’t really take the initiative to close the gap, [if we do that] then we waste energy for nothing. It was a bit of a gamble, but today, Mavi was stronger."

"If you doubt in the last 500m, and nobody is really pulling anymore – because probably they see me," the SD Worx - Protime rider laughed, "then it’s also the fault of the peloton. That’s why I also think we as a team could not have done it. You still hope that [García] maybe doesn’t have the legs anymore or something, but then I saw she would make it, and I was like, 'Ok, it is what it is.'"

Defending Tour de France champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma was also surprised by this turn of events. While she wasn't the woman to beat today, that nobody was interested in pacing down the sole leader meant the Polish cyclist only finished 6th.

"We were looking at Visma | Lease a Bike going for Marianne Vos in yellow, SD Worx with Wiebes," explained Niewiadoma. "None of the teams were committed to bring [García] back. It was kind of like a stop-and-go pace."