The winners and losers on a chaotic stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes
The winners and losers on a chaotic stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes
It was a dramatic stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as crosswinds and multiple crashes caused chaos on the road from Meaux to Provins.
Marianne Vos took the win and moved into the yellow jersey but the day saw some of the pre-race GC favourites lose out considerably while others gained time.
FDJ Suez-Futuroscope had a nightmare stage with their two GC options losing time and crashing out of the race.
After a strong Giro d’Italia that saw her ride to second place, Marta Cavalli suffered a bizarre and dramatic incident with 25 km to go which put a premature end to her Tour de France Femmes.
Her teammate, Danish champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig was tearful at the finish having been caught behind other incidents and eventually losing 1’38” putting her at 1’54” behind current GC leader Vos.
Team SD Worx also suffered the loss of some of their key domestiques behind crashes including Swiss time trialist Marlen Reusser which meant that their GC riders Demi Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio were left isolated in the peloton.
Vollering managed to limit her losses going into stage 3 and is 45 seconds down on GC alongside UAE Team ADQ’s Mavi García, with Moolman Pasio finishing five seconds behind her in a group containing out-and-out GC favourite Annemiek van Vleuten, Juliette Labous, Lianne Lippert and other GC hopefuls. Kristen Faulkner, the leader for BikeExchange-Jayco who won the opening time trial and queen stage at the Giro Donne, lost nearly four minutes to Vos on the stage.
After instigating a move through the first passage of the finish line after the intermediate sprint, Trek-Segafredo successfully helped Elisa Longo Borghini gain time on her GC rivals. The Italian now sits 18 seconds behind Vos in fourth place with Kasia Niewiadoma, who joined the move containing Longo Borghini, in third at 12 seconds.
Some of the lower-ranked teams have also capitalised on the chaos, with white jersey Maike van der Duin — having been off the front solo when Balsamo and Longo Borghini attacked — staying with the leading group to take fifth at the finish.
Valcar Travel & Service rider Silvia Persico, on her 25th birthday, rode to an impressive second place behind Marianne Vos, bumping herself up to second place overall just 10 seconds down.
Elsewhere, the youngest rider in the race, 19-year-old Julie de Wilde, placed seventh on the stage putting her in 9th overall at 45 seconds alongside Vollering and García. Those who found themselves on the back foot after stage 2 will be looking to make up for their losses going into a lumpier stage 3 and will be on high alert for any moves. With a nervous peloton and the possibility of more wind, however, the GC leaders and their teams will have their work cut out.
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