She defeated Marianne Vos, who had entered the sprint early. The Belgian Lotte Kopecky was third.
“It’s unbelievable that it worked. We worked towards this with the whole team’, said the rider shortly after the finish.
Wiebes, who already had fifteen victories in his pocket this year, had to come from far in the last hundreds of meters, but had enough strength in his legs to pass Marianne Vos. “It was a chaotic, long sprint. I was counting on Marianne to start the sprint early. It was ‘close’, but luckily I was able to accelerate one more time and hold it until the finish.’
Tour de France Femmes
The Women’s Tour de France was last held in 1993. In recent years, the women had their own one-day race during the Tour de France for men. Thanks in part to a lobby by Vos, Tour organizer ASO decided it was time for a serious alternative for women. That started on Sunday, the day the men finish in Paris.
Monday will be another flat ride. The race is from Meaux to Provins. The center of gravity of the Tour de France Femmes lies in the closing weekend, when there is a lot of climbing in the Vosges. The Tour for women ends next Sunday with a tough mountain stage. The Dutch riders Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering are favorites for the overall victory.