Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime powered to a dominant sprint victory on the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes in Lausanne on Saturday, seizing the yellow jersey ahead of Kim Le Court and race favourite Demi Vollering.
Stage one result and general classification
Wiebes covered the 128.5km route from Bern to Lausanne in 3 hours 29 minutes and 11 seconds, taking the 10-second time bonus. Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) finished second on the same time, collecting six bonus seconds, while Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) took third with four bonus seconds. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech), Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly), Elisa Longo-Borgini (UAE Team L'Imad), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM), Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease A Bike), Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Marlene Reusser (Movistar) completed the top ten.
Factoring in the bonus seconds, Wiebes leads the general classification by four seconds over Le Court, with Vollering third. Océane Mahé of Ma Petite Entreprise secured the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification after collecting points on the Côte de Vulliens, while Wiebes leads the points classification thanks to her stage win. The victory marked the 130th professional win of Wiebes' career.
Wiebes reacts to her victory
Speaking after the stage, an emotional Wiebes said: "I can't believe it. The SD Worx-Protime team worked super-hard ... Demi attacked, I thought, I need to follow ... it was a super-long sprint. I expected some attacks ... but I felt good with 1km to go. I was a bit blocked, because EF started early, but I thought: 'I need to go now.' I'm really happy with the support from the team ... and the staff ... they really believed in me, even if I had some doubts, and I am super grateful for this."
How the stage unfolded
The breakaway of the day consisted of Nikola Noskova (Cofidis), Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise), Maud Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels), and Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi). They built a lead of over two minutes, but the peloton, driven by EF Education-Oatly and other sprinters' teams, kept the gap in check. With 10km to go, the gap had been reduced to 46 seconds, and the break was swallowed up with 6km remaining.
The final climb in Lausanne, 2.5km long with an average gradient of 4.6%, proved decisive. As the pace intensified, Vollering launched a late attack, but Wiebes followed and then accelerated away in the final 300 metres to take a clear victory.
Key moments and incidents
The stage was not without incident. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) crashed on a right-hand downhill bend with 20km to go but quickly remounted, while Australian champion Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco) crashed heavily with 30km remaining. Another crash occurred under the flamme rouge with 1km to go, adding to the day's drama.
The route featured a spectacular descent towards Lake Geneva, with vineyards and views of the Alps providing a stunning backdrop. The Côte de Vulliens, categorised climb, saw Noskova take maximum points, but it was Mahé who secured the mountains jersey.
Looking ahead
The Tour de France Femmes continues with stage two on Sunday, a 123km route from Lausanne to Geneva. With the yellow jersey on her shoulders, Wiebes will look to defend her lead, while Vollering and other GC contenders will aim to gain time in the mountains to come.
