Lorena Wiebes claimed victory in the first stage of the Women’s Tour de France in Switzerland, on Lake Geneva. The Dutch rider prevailed in a sprint finish in Lausanne ahead of Kim Le Court Pienaar (Mauritius) and Demi Vollering (Netherlands), thereby claiming the first Yellow Jersey. German time trial champion Antonia Niedermaier, who is hoping for top placings in the Tour de France, finished 17th in the opening stage.
In a tense race, breakaway groups had repeatedly managed to pull away temporarily, but without success. As a result, the peloton remained together as it approached the final climb of the day, where a smaller group broke away. Vollering launched an attack 700 metres from the finish, but in the end the sprint specialist Wiebes came out on top with ease.
There were no significant time gaps between the favourites, including last year’s French winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Vollering (2023 Tour winner) and the Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (2024 Tour winner).
Another chance for the female sprinters on Monday
The Tour de France will remain in Switzerland on Sunday as well. The second stage, from Aigle to Geneva (147.9 kilometres), is once again expected to be decided by a sprint finish, even though the riders will first have to climb a total of 1,800 metres.
Of the nine stages in total, the decisive stages in the battle for overall victory are likely to be Tuesday’s time trial and Friday’s mountain finish on the legendary Mont Ventoux.
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