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Charlotte Kool powerfully sprinted to victory on stage one of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Den Haag on Monday afternoon, taking the yellow jersey too.
The dsm-firmenich PostNL rider, who hails from the Netherlands, took advantage of a mechanical issue for favourite Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) to surge past and take her first win at the Tour.
Second behind the Dutchwoman was Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility), the Finnish champion, with Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) sprinting to third place.
Dsm-firmenich PostNL timed their acceleration perfectly to combat the might of SD Worx-Protime. As Wiebes glanced down, seemingly unable to shift, Kool came round Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) and put the hammer down to take the win, with no one coming close to her on the line.
As a result, Kool will wear the yellow jersey on Tuesday, which sees two stages take a place – a flat 67.9km circuit, and a 6.3km individual time trial.
She also controls the green jersey competition after stage one, while Ahtosalo will wear white. Meanwhile, Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) will be in the polka dots as queen of the mountains, after taking two mountain points on the opening day.
“It’s unbelievable,” Kool said. “It’s a dream come true. It was not an easy season, but this was what it was all about. I want to thank so many people, like my trainer who kept believing in me, and all the people around me.
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“It was really hectic, but I liked it. I like chaos. I went so early, and I thought it was too early. It was enough in the end, so no words.
“This is the best day of my life, it’s everything coming together and it’s really special.”
How it happened
A flat 123km from Rotterdam to Den Haag greeted the 153 riders of the third Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, with an opportunity for the first yellow jersey of this edition on the line.
After multiple mechanical problems in the neutralised zone, including for Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) the flag was dropped by Marion Rousse, the race’s director.
At 104km to go, three riders attempted to push off the front – Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM) Gaia Masetti (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Iurani Blanco (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), but their move did not last long.
Meanwhile, two riders from Tashkent City, Madina Kakhorova and Asal Rizaeva, were dropped from the peloton.
There was another attack at 89km to go, but this did not last long. Ekaterina Knebeleva of Tashkent City became the first rider to abandon the race, 40km into the eight-stage event.
With 79km to go, Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) attacked off the front of the peloton. There was an attempt to follow by Giorgia Vettorello (Roland) and Blanco again, but this came to nothing.
As Tonetti sought to push her advantage, a big crash in the bunch saw a split occur. At least seven riders were off their bikes, including Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek), Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) and Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike). A bike change was needed for Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek), which briefly saw the Italian over three minutes behind the front of the race.
Tonetti used the chaos to aid her situation, leaving her out of the front longer than she might have otherwise. As a result, the young Italian won the QOM sprint at Maasdeltatunnel, the only one of the day, meaning she will wear the polka-dot jersey on Tuesday. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) came second, collecting a single point.
The lone breakaway member, Tonetti, was caught with 60km to go.
Natalie Grinczer (Roland), and Asal Rizaeva and Mohinabonu Elmurodova (Tashkent City) both abandoned the race inside the second half of the day.
The day’s intermediate sprint was won by Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), opening her account in the charge for her second green jersey.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) was involved in a crash with 28km to go. Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale), the Olympic road race champion, was forced into a bike change, as was Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), but they all made it back into the bunch.
SD Worx-Protime, Lidl-Trek, dsm-firmenich PostNL and EF-Oatly-Cannondale were all involved in keeping the pace high at the front of the bunch.
Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) and Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez) came down in an incident with just under 2km to go, but there were no significant crashes at the end, with all the GC hopefuls coming in together.
A chaotic final 500m saw SD Worx and dsm battling it out to take control of the front. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) attempted to open things up, but was denied by her bike. This gave the opportunity to Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) to sprint into open air, and she continued this speed to the line.
Results
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage one: Rotterdam > Den Haag (123km)
1. Charlotte Kool (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL, in 2:47:40
2. Anniina Ahtosalo (Fin) Uno-X Mobility
3. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
4. Lotta Henttala (Fin) EF-Oatly-Cannondale
5. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Daria Pikulik (Pol) Human Powered Health
7. Mylène de Zoete (Ned) Ceratizit-WNT
8. Kim Le Court (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal
9. Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
10. Blanka Vas (Hun) SD Worx-Protime, all at same time
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift general classification after stage one
1. Charlotte Kool (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL, in 2:47:30
2. Anniina Ahtosalo (Fin) Uno-X Mobility, +4s
3. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +6s
4. Lotta Henttala (Fin) EF-Oatly-Cannondale, +10s
5. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Daria Pikulik (Pol) Human Powered Health
7. Mylène de Zoete (Ned) Ceratizit-WNT
8. Kim Le Court (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal
9. Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
10. Blanka Vas (Hun) SD Worx-Protime, all at same time
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