Sigrid Haugset, the Norwegian national champion, delivered a stunning solo performance to win stage three of the Tour de France Femmes and claim the overall leader's yellow jersey, shocking the race favourites and making history as the first Norwegian rider to wear the maillot jaune in the event.
The 27-year-old broke clear alone with 90 kilometres remaining, at the foot of the second-category Col de la Savine, and held off a determined chase from former world road race champion Lotte Kopecky to triumph in Poligny by almost a minute and a half. Her victory, described as the biggest of her career, propelled her into the race lead with a margin of two minutes and two seconds over Kim Le Court ahead of Tuesday's 21km individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon.
Unreal victory and historic lead
"I never thought it was possible," Haugset said after realising she had taken both the stage and the overall lead in the sport's biggest race. "It's unreal. I was so dizzy at the end. I know my boyfriend would be so angry at me for not celebrating, but I couldn't. I could not lift my arms off the bike. It was impossible."
Haugset's bold move surprised the peloton's leading teams, who had marked each other rather than the Norwegian champion. "I was thinking about all my teammates and everyone cheering from home, so I had to give it my all. All done in the Norwegian champion's jersey too – it's fantastic. We had looked at this stage and it was the goal for this Tour. I told my father I'd get some flowers today. Tomorrow is the time trial, but I haven't worked on it this year so I will just enjoy it."
Epic duel with Kopecky
The stage unfolded under scorching temperatures in the high 30s, with riders receiving iced drinks and ice socks throughout the 156km route. Haugset's lone effort was marked by an intense pursuit from Kopecky, winner of the points classification in all three Grand Tours. Kopecky got as close as 10 seconds to Haugset, but could not find the power to close the gap, and the Norwegian surged clear again to win by a comfortable margin.
"I thought Kopecky would catch me. I can't believe that she didn't, but I kept on. The team car was amazing, pushing me," Haugset said.
The first sparring match between the race favourites came on the Côte de Chaux-Champagny, 25km from Poligny, where Le Court accelerated and temporarily left her rivals in disarray. However, as the narrow climb continued, with brief tentative accelerations from Kasia Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering, the main contenders regrouped, and with the potentially pivotal time trial looming, a truce was called.
Ferrand-Prévot's time trial concerns
Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot faces uncertainty over her performance in the winding test through the 'Routes des Grand Crus', which includes the sharp climb of the Lacets de Marsannay. "It's a real challenge for me," she admitted, acknowledging her lack of time-trialling experience compared with Vollering and Le Court. The double Olympic gold medallist said she has spent several months working to improve her time trialling but accepts she will have to "limit the damage" against the clock.
"We made sure to put me in a more correct position on the time-trial bike. We also set out to do quite a few aerodynamic tests on the track, and to try to find the fastest outfit," Ferrand-Prévot said. Even so, she appears to accept she will be on the back foot as the peloton heads into the Rhone valley on Wednesday. "It's a possibility," she said. "I don't know how much time I will lose, but I will give my best to lose the least possible."
Wildfire risk looms over later stages
Much of the south-east of France, which will host Friday's summit finish to Mont Ventoux and the Côte d'Azur stages on Friday and Saturday, remains under elevated risk of wildfires. While the climb of the Ventoux scheduled for stage seven is expected to remain intact, the current routing of the stage through the Ventoux's foothills could be affected. In a statement, the Vaucluse prefecture asked the organisers of the Tour de France Femmes to consider an alternative route. The prefecture is planning a risk assessment on Tuesday and has said that an "alternative route will be implemented should the wildfire risk be considered extreme".
