Breakaway victory at the Tour de France Femmes: Norway’s Sigrid Haugset capped off a long solo ride on the third stage of the Tour de France Femmes with victory. The 27-year-old prevailed in a thrilling finale ahead of Belgian Lotte Kopecky, who had been chasing the Norwegian for much of the stage.
Haugset thus also took the yellow jersey from the Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes, who had won the first two stages. As a sprint specialist, Wiebes struggled on the mountainous stage and, as expected, crossed the finish line some way behind the leaders.
Haugset had broken away from a breakaway group after around 70 of the 156.5 kilometres from Geneva to Poligny; Kopecky broke away from the peloton a little later with an attack and set off in pursuit. She closed in on Haugset, but it was only in the final kilometres that the Norwegian pulled decisively away.
Niedermaier puts in a strong performance
German time trial champion Antonia Niedermaier put in a strong performance; she was briefly in a group with Tour favourites including Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and crossed the finish line with the main field.
On Tuesday, the race continues with a 21-kilometre individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, where Niedermaier can expect to finish well. The fifth edition of the tour concludes on Sunday in Nice after a total of nine stages.
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