Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes has won stage three of the women’s Tour de France in a heart-stopping final.
The cyclist from Team SD Worx-Protime prevailed after 147.2 km from Collonges-la-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaux in a mass sprint in front of compatriot Marianne Vos and the overall leader Lotte Kopecky from Belgium – the peloton had only caught up with the Belgian runaway Julie Van de Velde about 100 meters before the finish.
The German road champion Liane Lippert (Movistar) rolled over the finish line with the peloton and claimed second place (+0:55 minutes) in the overall classification one day after her day’s victory. On Monday, the 25-year-old won her first World Tour victory in Mauriac.
Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) remains in the yellow jersey. Dutch world champion Annemiek van Vleuten, defending champion and Lippert’s teammate, is eighth, 1:05 minutes behind.
Van de Velde (Team Fenix-Deceuninck) broke away from the peloton early on. Because the peloton only did half-hearted follow-up work, the 30-year-old was able to hope for a soloist’s success until shortly before the finish. But then the field rushed past her on the home stretch.
The fourth stage takes the riders 177.1 km from Cahors to Rodez on Wednesday – it is the longest section of this year’s tour. In particular, the final with several difficult climbs has it all and gives escapers the chance to win the day.
The second edition of the women’s tour, which was launched again last year, ends after eight stages on Sunday in Pau. The day before, the probably decisive stage leads to the Pyrenees giant Col du Tourmalet.