Lorena Wiebes will ‘just’ be at the start of the seventh stage in the Tour de France Femmes on Saturday. The two-time stage winner, who crashed on Friday, has been deemed fit enough by medical staff to continue.
The 23-year-old Wiebes went hard to the ground in the final phase of the hill stage in the descent. The leader of Team DSM was able to continue, but missed the connection with the peloton. She eventually crossed the line in Rosheim, just over seven minutes behind winner Marianne Vos.
Team DSM reported Friday that Wiebes had a few scrapes from her fall and that her elbow had to be stitched. The team did say that it was not yet certain that Wiebes would be able to continue in the Tour on Saturday. A few hours before the start of the ride, the green light from the medical staff followed.
Wiebes, who will leave DSM after this season, won two of the six stages this Tour de France Femmes. The Mijdrechtse sprinted to the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées in the first stage on Sunday. Last Thursday she was in a class of her own again in the sprint of the fifth stage.
In the last two stages of the Tour de France Femmes it is the turn of the climbers. The peloton will pass through the Vosges on Saturday. The finish of the final stage is on the La Super Planche des Belles Filles on Sunday.
Vos will enter the final weekend as a jersey wearer, but there is a good chance that she will lose the lead in the general classification to the better climbers. The 35-year-old Brabant defends a lead of 35 seconds on close attacker Katarzyna Niewiadoma from Poland. Many eyes are also on Demi Vollering (sixth at +1.11) and Annemiek van Vleuten (eighth at +1.28).