Who Won the Tour de France Femmes?

Who Won the Tour?

After the Queen stage, it was clear that Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) was back in top form and ready to claim the GC title at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. But the other teams weren’t willing to let her have the overall win easily on the final stage. Teams were sending riders up the road throwing down attack after attack, with Trek Segafredo and Canyon/SRAM really showing that they were capable of early on. And as for Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma, who was wearing the yellow jersey until yesterday? Well, she wasn’t about to give up or phone in the last stage either. And with small gaps between women in the top 10 in the overall, every second truly mattered coming into the finish at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles.

While she didn’t seem like a top contender in the early stages due to a stomach illness, Van Vleuten maintained her top 10 positioning all week, hovering under two minutes behind Vos in the GC. We knew she would have the ability to climb away from the peloton if she was feeling better, but we didn’t know just how strong she’d be until the penultimate mountain stage. She handily put minutes into Demi Vollering, who moved into second place in the overall standings after her huge effort riding solo into second yesterday.

Unfortunately, we also saw a lot of riders abandon the Tour after the Queen stage yesterday, including SD Worx Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, who we expected to be racing for the climber’s jersey, and DSM’s Lorena Wiebes, who was wearing the green jersey until it was returned to Vos when she had to hand the yellow jersey over to Van Vleuten.

Van Vleuten seemingly had the race wrapped up, but faced some mechanical issues midway through the stage, changing bikes and even borrowing one from a teammate, forcing her to chase back into the lead group. The peloton wasted no time speeding up, with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and Jumbo Visma’s riders driving the pace at the front. Van Vleuten was forced to sprint from the back, working her way through the groups and into the main peloton, nearly a minute and a half behind the race leaders. But once they hit a climb, Van Vleuten seemed to find another gear, sprinting through the peloton on the start of the second-to-last 8km climb, moving to the front in order to easily do a bike change to get back on her own bike.

The lead group at the front with Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ), Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo), Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education - TIBCO - SVB) and Grave Brown (Bike Exchange-Jayco) and several others maintained a gap with 42km to go. After a disastrous stage 4 with mechanicals and a bad crash, Garcia certainly was hoping to have a smooth, strong final stage showcasing what she’s capable of. Back in the peloton, Vollering, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Van Vleuten attacked at the front, though the attacks were quickly nullified by the group.

We knew with a huge climb—up to the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles—to finish the race, it was likely a climber would take the stage. With the small lead group hitting the climb only 30 seconds ahead of Van Vleuten and Vollering’s group, the final seven kilometers of the race were nail-biters as the race ran down with a mountaintop finish. As soon as the climb began, the attacks began as riders began to empty the tanks. Vollering was covering Van Vleuten carefully—her hold on the climber’s jersey was only a single point ahead of Van Vleuten, so maintaining that in the finish was critically important.

Even as riders worked hard on the climb, there were smiles from the racers as the fans cheered. The gap from the leaders to the peloton seemed to stretch slightly as Pauliena Rooijakkers of Canyon/SRAM attacked the lead group. But Van Vleuten put in a huge dig, speeding up the road, attacking with six kilometers to go and closing the gap fast as Vollering tried to hang on, but to no avail. Van Vleuten blew past Garcia, slotting neatly into the top spot with five kilometers to go. Vollering didn’t give up the fight though, and passed Garcia, giving it her all to catch Van Vleuten.

Behind Van Vleuten and Vollering, Garcia was swallowed up by the lead group containing Juliette Labous (Team DSM), Lianne Lippert (DSM), EF-Education-Tibco-SVB’s Veronica Ewers, Elisa Longo-Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Silvia Persico and Cecile Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) in addition to many of the others in the original lead group. For many of these riders, seconds matter: For many in the top 10, under 30 seconds separate one rider from the other.

The final kilometer was the steepest of the climb, covered in gravel and dust, and Van Vleuten was flawless as she smashed down on the pedals and powered to the top, soaking in the cheers of the crowd lining the road. She had plenty of time to celebrate as she took the stage win as well as the overall win, the yellow jersey, in the Tour de France Femmes.

Behind her, Vollering finished 40 seconds behind, scoring the climber’s jersey for the overall and taking second on the day, met with as many cheers as Van Vleuten was.

The small group fighting for the final step of the podium for the stage battled for positioning headed into the final kilometer. Lippert had fallen behind, as had Ludwig, but the others were fighting not just for race day podiums but overall spots. The sprint into the finish was between Niewiadoma and Persico, and it was Persico who scored the podium for stage 8 of the race. But Niewiadoma wrapped up third in the overall, so was still smiling through the finish line.

And on a more general note before we wrap this coverage: While we don’t yet have info on the total viewership for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, it certainly seems like it generated just as much excitement—if not more—than the Tour de France. We’ve certainly enjoyed watching, cheering and covering the race and we’re already excited for next year!

Jersey Winners

Yellow: A. van Vleuten (Movistar)

Green: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Polka Dot: D. Vollering (SD Worx)

White: S. van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo)

Most Combative: Mavi García

Top 10 Overall Classification

1. Annemiek Van Vleuten
   
2. Demi Vollering (3:48)
   
3. Kasia Niewiadoma (6:35)
   
4. Juliette LaBous (7:28)
   
5. Silvia Persico (8:00)
   
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (8:26)
   
7. Cecil Ludwig (8:59)
   
8. Évita Muzic (13:54)
   
9. Veronica Ewers (15:05)
   
10. Mavi García (15:15)
    

Who’s Winning The Tour?

It’s Annemiek van Vleuten’s Tour now.

The “Queen Stage” of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift lived up to its name on Saturday, as the riders took to the first categorized climbs of the race. And it was the pre-race favorite—van Vleuten (Movistar)—that proved that she is the best climber in the world, and the likely champion of the Tour de Frances Femmes.

The attacks started early on the first climb, the Petit ballon. It was there that van Vleuten and Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) separated themselves from the rest. It stayed that way as they hit the Col du Platzerwasel. With 62km to go, van Vleuten made her decisive attack, distancing Vollering.

From there, the Movistar leader soloed to the finish, opening up a huge advantage on Vollering and the other chasers. Van Vleuten took the Stage 7 win by 3:26 and now leads the Tour de France Femmes by 3:14 as we prepare for the final stage on Sunday.

It was always going to be a Tour for the climbers, with two brutal mountain stages placed right at the end. Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) loses her yellow jersey, but was a more-than-worthy leader of the Tour. Vos, did further solidify her lead in the green jersey competition with the unfortunate abandonment of sprinter Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM).

It was a good day on Saturday for the Tour’s best climbers not named van Vleuten, too. Vollering had to solo the final 62km to take second in the stage. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) did a lot of pulling for a chase pack that also included Juliette Labous (Team DSM) and Cecile Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope), among others. Niewiadoma put herself in third overall—a good podium position heading into the final day, 49 seconds ahead of fourth place Labous. Ludwig, who sprinted to third in the stage, is now in fifth position.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) went for it early and suffered later in the stage, eventually taking seventh on the day and now sits in seventh in the GC. Expect plenty of attacks from the contenders on Stage 8 as riders look to get into position for the top three podium.

Who’s Really Winning The Tour?

It is hard to imagine anyone challenging van Vleuten for the yellow jersey on Sunday’s final stage of the Tour de France Femmes. Van Vleuten decimated a peloton that included the rest of the world’s best climbers en route to a stage win and massive time gains on the Tour’s first mountain stage.

Van Vleuten leads the general classification by 3:14 with one stage to go, and that stage—like Saturday’s stage—suits her strengths perfectly.

For the former maillot jaune, Vos, the goal has already been accomplished. Vos won a pair of stages and held the yellow jersey for the majority of the Tour. She will handily take the win in the points classification, and will ride the final stage in the green jersey. The Dutch superstar knew she would struggle on the climbs—and she certainly did.

But it’s hard for Vos—who fought so hard to get a women’s Tour de France in the first place—to view her performance as anything less than an absolute success.

It’s van Vleuten’s turn in yellow now, though. Barring disaster or a major blow up, van Vleuten will win the Tour de France Femmes. She proved on Saturday that no one can keep pace with her in the mountains.

Despite not feeling well during the Tour’s first few stages, the former world champion limited her losses and weathered the storm. Clearly, van Vleuten recovered in time for the big climbs. Vollering battled hard with van Vleuten until she just could no longer keep up with the torrid pace up front.

All that remains is the final Stage 8 up to the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles. Van Vleuten will look to ride the maillot jaune to the top first, and, with it, claim a definitive Tour de France Femmes title.

It seems for now to be the easy bet.

Jersey Winners

Yellow: A. van Vleuten (Movistar)

Green: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Polka Dot: D. Vollering (SD Worx)

White: S. van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo)

Most Combative: A. van Vleuten (Movistar)

Who’s winning the Tour?

Midway through the stage, a strong group formed a 14-rider breakaway including Christine Majerus (SD Worx). By 46 kilometers to go, though, the pack began to shift slightly as some riders sat in while others worked on the front, fighting to keep the breakaway alive. The peloton, however, seemed relatively unbothered despite the fact that it contains all of the jersey holders, Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma), Lorena Wiebes (DSM) and Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel). And with 30 kilometers to go, the gap that had grown to 1:34 began to come down.

As the peloton hit the last bonus sprint with 27.4km to go, Grace Brown (BikeExchange) attacked in the peloton to bring the group back to the front of the race. Vos jumped into the mix, as did Team DSM—who had no riders in the breakaway up the road—and Movistar’s Annemieke Van Vleuten, an early race favorite, also shifted to the front of the peloton. The peloton closed the gap to 30 seconds, but it extended back to a minute as riders hit 20 kilometers to go.

With 16k to go, Team DSM took to the front of the group and closed the gap again, bringing their leader Juliette LaBous back to the front of the race to keep her in contention for the overall. But in the breakaway, Anna Henderson of Jumbo-Visma attacked off the front, aiming for a solo win of her own. She was joined by Joscelin Lowden (Uno-X Pro) and Marie Le Net (FDJ).

On the final climb of the day, back in the peloton, Van Vleuten finally jumped into the mix, moving to the front of the peloton. She’s been ill all week, but still managed to stay in eighth place in the overall, and is now clearly aiming to be at the front of the race. But she was answered by—who else?—Vos, Elisa Balsamo and Ellen van Dijk (both Trek Segafredo) with Demi Vollering and Ashleigh-Moolman Pasio of SD Worx. With 5km to go, the pack caught LeNet and finished the breakaway as the technical descent into the finish began. Technical and tactical was the name of the game in the final kilometers as teams set up their riders for a fast finish.

Van Dijk controlled the front, with Vos hot on her wheel in the final kilometer. Trek Segafredo’s Balsamo and Longo Borghini nearly crashed into each other with just 200 meters to go as wheels touched in the peloton. But Vos played the sprint perfectly and handily took the sprint, cementing another stage win and her lead in the GC.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

Again, it’s impossible to say anyone other than Marianne Vos is winning, now that she’s taken yet another stage win in the perfectly played race. She’ll maintain her 30 second advantage over Persico. In the overall, though, we are heading into the mountains tomorrow, with many of the top climbers within 90 seconds of Vos in the overall. It will be interesting to see if Vos is able to match them in the mountains, but it’s hard to imagine that the GOAT of cycling will give up that jersey easily.

At this point in the race, the jerseys are all being more hotly contended for. Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel) is holding on to the climber’s jersey as we head towards the mountains, but there are several riders who are moving up in the points. Lowden, Laura Ascensio (Ceratizit) and Coralie Demay (St Mich-Auber93 WE) all are fighting for points to try to match her.

While Lorena Wiebes was wearing the green jersey, Vos is now even further ahead of her in the points, and Wiebes is only in the green jersey as long as Vos is wearing the yellow. And with 22km to go today, Wiebes went down, as did Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx). Wiebes got back up and pedaling, but not quickly, and judging by the scrapes on her elbow, she’s likely going to be hurting in the final two stages—it’s going to be even harder for her to move ahead of Vos in the last stages.

Meanwhile, we’ve also seen riders dropping out due to a disqualification around some rule issues with follow cars in addition to several riders who unfortunately dropped out due to illness and injury. All of the primary contenders are still in the mix, but any team that has lost a rider will be struggling to have enough riders to support their GC rider. With teams of six, any rider out of the race certainly can make a difference for the team, and losing strong riders like Emma Norsgaard as Movistar did after Stage 5 is certainly hard for the team.

Heading into the final two mountain stages, one thing is for sure: Anything can still happen in the overall. -Molly Hurford

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Green: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

White: Julia Borgstöm (AG Insurance)

Polka Dot: F. Gerritse (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: Marie LeNet (FDJ)

Who’s Winning The Tour?

Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) proved that no one in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is on her level in a flat sprint. The Stage 1 winner was in perfect position down the final straightaway when she started her sprint and made it look easy, holding off yellow jersey holder Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) and Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) to win handily.

The TDFFaZ saw its longest stage at 175km on Thursday, but it was still a day for the sprinters on a mostly flat course.

It’s the second stage win for Wiebes, who won the sprint on the Champs-Élysées to gain the initial yellow jersey of the Tour. Wiebes was in the green jersey on loan from Vos, but Wiebes did cut into Vos’ lead in the points classification, winning the “best of the rest” sprint at the intermediate checkpoint and then taking 50 points (to Vos’ 30) at the finish. Wiebes is now 26 points back of Vos.

It looked, for a time, like maybe the breakaway—led by Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) and Antri Christoforou (Human Powered Health)—might stave off the main chase pack carrying the top sprinters’ teams, but the peloton got its act together with under 10km to go in the stage, eventually making the catch inside the last 3km.

From there, the main sprinters’ teams got organized. Team DSM, which was initially reluctant to help with the chase of the breakaway, put Wiebes in a good spot for what would be a very technical run into the finish.

Trek-Segafredo’s Ellen van Dijk led the train and gave way to her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, working for their sprinter and the world champion, Balsamo. But Longo Borghini made a wrong turn, taking herself out of the finish. The main sprinters, Balsamo, Vos, and Wiebes, all got around her with no trouble. Longo Borghini lost time, but thankfully for the rest of the field, there was no additional damage.

Wiebes was the first to wind up and there was no catching her from there, as she handily defeated second place Balsamo and third place Vos.

Who’s Really Winning The Tour?

Vos is proving that she’s not only a worthy maillot jaune (as if there was any doubt about that), but also a real threat to the GC long term in this Tour. Her bike handling was put to the test in the final big turn when Longo Borghini took the wrong turn and nearly cut off Vos. But the maillot jaune managed to avoid contact with Longo Borgini and expertly maneuvered her bike around her to avoid disaster for her (and countless others behind her in the pack).

Vos gained four additional bonus seconds on Thursday with her third place stage finish. That brings her total to 26 bonus seconds—more than anyone else in the race—and those could turn out to be crucial gains when all is said and done.

She still has a long way to go—and a brutal final few stages in the mountains—but Vos has passed all the tests so far with flying colors.

Of course, the mountains are looming. Friday’s Stage 6 is a hilly one, but it may just serve as a precursor for what’s to come on the very challenging Stage 7 and Stage 8. The purer climbers have plenty of times to assert their power on the peloton—and Vos could be a victim of that.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) admittedly wasn’t feeling her best to open up the Tour, but the pre-race favorite has avoided big time losses and, if she is feeling better, she will surely be a force in the final three days. Other GC favorites like Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM Racing), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (Team SD Worx), Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx), and Longo Borghini—despite losing nine seconds on Thursday— are all well-positioned to make moves as the we head closer to the end of the Tour.

A Stage 5 crash was the day’s major downside, with Movistar’s Emma Norsgaard being forced to abandon the Tour. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) also went down, but was able to rejoin the main group and not lose any time.

If you haven’t been paying attention to the Tour de France Femmes yet, now is certainly the time to tune in. It’s about to get real spicy up front.

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Green: M. Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

White: J. de Wilde (Plantur-Pura)

Polka Dot: F. Gerritse (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: V. Berteau (Cofidis)

Who’s Winning the Tour?

The winner of today’s stage in the TdFFaZ was Marlen Reusser of SD Worx in a solo effort from 3km out. Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma retains the yellow jersey despite a fifth-place finish, but her top competitors are only 16 seconds behind.

A small but strong early breakaway with three riders was quickly swallowed once the climbs and gravel segments began. Still, Laura Asencio (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling), Coralie Demay (St Michel - Auber93 WE), and Valerie Demey (Liv Racing Xstra) had impressive efforts and were able to bank plenty of sprint points as they came into the intermediate sprint nearly two minutes ahead of the peloton. (Behind them, Lorena Wiebes of Team DSM put in a dig to score 4th place in the sprint and pick up points to move closer to the green jersey.)

Unsurprisingly, the second half of the day was packed with mechanical drama thanks to tire puncturing in the gravel segments. Top riders including Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), Mavi García (UAE), and Kasia Niewadoma (Canyon SRAM) struggled with mechanicals in these segments, while Canyon/SRAM and Trek Segafredo both deserve a shoutout for their prowess leading the peloton through the gravel sections. However, Canyon/SRAM failed to look after their GC leader Niewiadoma.

ParkHotel’s Mischa Bredewold nipped Canyon/SRAM’s Elise Chabbey at the line in the third QOM climb—a tactical move from Park Hotel to keep their rider Femke Gerritse in the Polka Dot Jersey. Immediately after, Canyon/SRAM’s Alena Amialiusik repeated her Stage 3 performance by going on a tactical solo attack off the front. Marlen Reusser of SD Worx made a similar move after Amialiusik was caught.

Vos stayed relatively quiet in the peloton, but it was easy to spot the Yellow Jersey as she hovered near the front, surrounded by her teammates. And she did show her cyclocross prowess when she was forced onto the grass in a gravel segment at around 20km to go as other riders—including García again, along with Elisa Balsamo (Trek Segafredo)—went down in minor crashes or with flats and mechanicals.

The dust on the course made it tricky for riders to see where their top competitors were, and as the kilometers ticked down, Vos shifted to the front and into attack mode, ensuring that she was sticking close to the lead wheels in the peloton as Reusser continued her solo attack. With more than six minutes separating her from Vos in the GC, it’s not surprising that Vos remained unbothered by that attack, though Niewadoma electrified the front of the field before another attack from Amialiusik.

García’s luck still wasn’t looking up by 13 kilometers to go, as her team car ran into her back wheel, causing her to crash. Two bike changes, flat tires and a car crash—yet she still was up and pedaling, chasing back into the peloton. Amialiusik was joined by US American Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) and FDJ’s Évita Muzic as the gap between them and Reusser stretched to over a minute with four kilometers to go. A small lead group behind started to break apart with attacks from riders like Liana Lippert (Team DSM) and Silvia Persico (Valcar–Travel & Service). But they were quickly answered by Vos, who clearly was fine with a rider like Reusser taking a stage win, but was unwilling to let riders like Persico gain on her in the GC.

Reusser handily came in for a solo win—the first solo win of the Tour so far—with plenty of time to celebrate the first stage win for SD Worx.

A full minute behind her, Muzic took second with Amialiusik coming in for third. Vos took the sprint in the small peloton that came in just a few seconds behind the chasers.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

If we learned one thing today, it was that this Tour might be decided on a team’s ability to work together. Both Canyon/SRAM and SD Worx are looking good, but if their teams don’t work together on the stages that matter, they may be throwing their chances at the GC out the window. And we haven’t yet hit the mountain stages where we could see big shifts in the GC with climbers like Moolman-Pasio, but it’s now clear that Vos is committed to winning the whole damn thing. We wouldn’t bet against her, as she still leads by 16 seconds over Persico and Niewadoma heading into stage 6.

Unfortunately, some GC contenders had bad days. García’s mechanical and crash disasters have set her back in the field and certainly will have her feeling sore heading into tomorrow. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) cited stomach issues yesterday, and while she’s still racing and in contention, she doesn’t have the same ‘oomph’ that we would have expected from her in this race.

And while the win for SD Worx today is certainly a boost for the team, as we mentioned yesterday, having two potential contenders—Moolman-Pasio and Demi Vollering, both just under a minute behind Vos—for the overall on the same team can make for tricky team tactics. They will soon have to decide whose got a better chance at the Maillot Jaune—Molly Hurford

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: M. Vos (Jumbo Visma)
Green: L. Wiebes (DSM)
White: J. de Wilde (Plantur-Pura)
Polka Dot: F. Gerritse (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: Marlen Reusser (SD Worx)

Who’s Winning the Tour?

The winner of today’s stage in the TdFFaZ could not have been a more deserving one. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) played her cards carefully to take the win in an uphill sprint from a breakaway of allstars, including yesterday’s winner, Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma). It's been quite a month for Denmark!

The stage played out like a one-day classic, but before Ludwig made right for everything that went wrong yesterday for her team, the first half of today's stage did not see any challenging moves to the GC or stage contenders. This allowed for Alena Amialusik from Canyon SRAM to go off the front in a solo break promptly after the last QOM, on Côte de Vertus, and stay away until about 20km to go—an effort that granted her the Combativity Award.

Once caught at the foot of the Côte de Mutigny climb, the favorites quickly made their way to the front, creating the group which contained our stage winner. The gruppetto was made of Mavi García (UAE), Annemiek van Vleuten and Paula Patiño (Movistar), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Demi Vollering (SD Worx), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ), Liana Lippert and Juliette Labous (DSM), Silvia Persico (Valcar–Travel & Service), Elisa Longo-Borghini (Trek Segafredo) and Vos.

Missing out from this elite group were Kasia Niewadoma (Canyon SRAM) and Kristen Faulkner (BikeExchange–Jayco), among others. But Faulkner started a chase and was later joined by Vos, Labous, and Ludwig, who had been dropped from the front group after 16km to go—thanks to Moolman-Pasio’s serious pacing at the top of the climb. Meanwhile, Niewiadoma bridged over to this chase group with the help of teammate Elise Chabbey.

As the group of favorites approached town, Lippert and Vollering went down in a corner before the descent started. That’s when Longo Borghini decided to attack to narrow down the selection, but her efforts were futile. With 7km left, Vos, Ludwig, and others worked together to make the connection that would take them both to their launch pads.

At 5km they turned left to face the summit of Mount Bernon, with a maximum gradient of over 13% and bonus seconds up for grabs. After the descending Bernon and with less than 500m to the line, Niewiadoma attacked into the last corner—a move that shuffled back Ludwig a couple of places—and tried to go long for the win. But Vos already had eyes on her and quickly followed, and so did Moolman-Pasio. But it was Ludwig who kept fighting and had the legs for the uphill sprint, finally getting the big win she's been chasing for the last two years. Vos was second and stayed in yellow, while Moolman-Pasio was third. What a day.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

With this being the first edition of the race—in this form—it is still hard to tell who will take the overall. As it stands, Vos has a gap of 16” over some of the serious GC contenders like Moolman-Pasio and Van Vleuten. However, she can quickly lose time tomorrow, or in stages 7 and 8, as they may prove too challenging for the puncheur.

Moolman-Pasio, Vollering, García, Labous, and Van Vleuten seem to have a serious chance at the overall. However, with Moolman-Pasio and Vollering, being teammates but also “co-leaders” of the SD Worx squad, it makes us wonder if they will be working together at all. They should be careful, thou. As this may be seen as a vulnerability by the accompanying riders with eyes on the Maillot Jaune.—Rosael Torres-Davis

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: M. Vos (Jumbo Visma)
Green: A. Amialiusik (Canyon SRAM)
White: J. de Wilde (Plantur-Pura)
Polka Dot: F. Gerritse (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: A. Amialiusik (Canyon SRAM)

Who’s Winning the Tour?

“It’s not revenge, it’s just a beautiful day,” said Jumbo Visma’s Marianne Vos after winning today’s sprint stage and collecting both the Yellow and Green Jerseys.

The longer second stage—136.5km of nearly flat racing—was a windy one for the riders, who were forced to maneuver cautiously through wind gusts of up to 50kph. The final lap of racing presented plenty of technical challenges for the large peloton, which pushed top riders to the front to stay safe. Damp roads also caused several large crashes in the last 30km of the stage. Team DSM and Jumbo-Visma spent much of the race controlling the front of the peloton, with DSM’s Lorena Wiebes in the yellow jersey and Jumbo-Visma’s Marianne Vos staying protected and ready to fight for more sprint wins. Small attacks and breakaways slipped ahead of the peloton, but rarely extended a lead beyond 20 seconds before getting caught by the group.

Earlier, Vos, Elisa Balsamo and Elisa Longo-Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM), and Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) quickly bridged up to Maike Van der Duin from Le Col-Wahoo who had been off the front. Then the attacks came with 18 kilometers still to go. In the sprint, Balsamo ejected herself from the group after leading out Longo-Borghini for the slightly uphill finish. Vos accelerated with 100 meters to go and absolutely smashed the sprint.

The final 30km was marred with crashes as the roads got a bit damp and slick. GC contender Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope) was involved in one of those crashes and has abandoned the race.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

It’s difficult to say anyone other than Vos is really winning the Tour, to be honest.

Gaps are starting to open up, with riders like Wiebes losing valuable seconds after the stage was won by the small breakaway group. Points are also starting to tally up for some riders, which will open up advantages, and with roughly 30 riders crashing during the final hour of the stage, teams like FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope have lost several riders and will have to reevaluate overall strategy. At the moment, it’s clear that Vos is in it to win it and clearly wants at least some time in the yellow jersey. But will she be able to hang on in the mountains of Stages 7 and 8?

However, while today and yesterday were clearly stages that favored sprinters, tomorrow’s hilly stage will see the first climbs of the week, and that should open up more gaps while bringing some of the real favorites for the GC move into higher positions. Look for Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering (SD Worx) to be at the front tomorrow, while racers like Vos may potentially shift into working towards the Green Jersey depending on how the day goes.—Molly Hurford

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma)
Green: Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma)
White: Maike van der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo)
Polka Dot: Femke Markus (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: Maike Van Der Duin (Le Col Wahoo)

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Team DSM came to the biggest stage race of the season with a clear GC contender in Juliette Labous, and a powerful and cemented sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who took the win today at the Champs-Élyseés, beating the one and only Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx finished third. Wiebes will be in yellow for tomorrow’s start.

The short 82-kilometer race was a lively one, with attacks early on, plus sprints and QOM points that kept the pace high. The day saw at least two crashes, and many more dropped chains and mechanicals due to the cobblestoned roads.

Gladys Verhulst, from Le Cool Wahoo, made the last attack and managed to stay ahead of the peloton until 2.5km to go. This move awarded her with the Combativity Award for the day.

In the last kilometers, Movistar and Jumbo were the only teams with clear sprint trains, though Ellen van Dijk from Trek-Segafredo drove the pace while teammate Elisa Balsamo improvised in the peloton to get into a better position for the sprint. The Jumbo-Visma sprint train released Vos for a long sprint, but it was Wiebes who came from the far left—through a hole that Jumbo Visma teammates neglected to cover—to make it a drag race and win the first race the first Maillot Jaune of the TdF Femmes.

Who’s really winning the Tour?
All the favorites for the General Classification finished within the bunch taking the same time. Some gaps did open up on riders like Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo), Christine Majerus (SD Worx), and Soraya Paladin (Canyon Sram), but no serious contenders lose time.

While today was clearly one for the sprinters and tomorrow’s stage looking to play out the same way, we won’t see the real favorites for the GC come out to play just yet. Riders like Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten, Demi Vollering (SD Worx), and Marta Bastianelli (FDJ) just need to hold tight, stay rubber-side down, and hydrated in the upcoming days.—Rosael Torres-Davis

Jersey Winners:

Yellow: Lorena Wiebes (DSM)
Green: Lorena Wiebes (DSM)
White: Maike van der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo)
Polka Dot: Femke Markus (ParkHotel Valkenburg)

Combativity Award: Gladys Verhulst (Le Col Wahoo)