Lorena Wiebes rode to victory in the first stage of the women’s Tour de France in Switzerland on Lake Geneva. The Dutchwoman prevailed in a sprint decision in Lausanne ahead of Kim Le Court Pienaar (Mauritius) and Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and thus took over the first yellow jersey. The German time trial champion Antonia Niedermaier, who is hoping for top placings in the Tour of France, crossed the finish line in 17th place at the start.
In a nervous race, breakaway groups repeatedly broke away, but without success. So the peloton went into the last climb of the day as a unit, during which a smaller group broke away. Vollering launched an attack 700 meters from the finish, but in the end the sprint specialist Wiebes prevailed confidently.
There were no big time gaps among the favorites around last year’s French winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Vollering (Tour victory in 2023) and the Pole Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Tour victory in 2024).
Another chance for sprinters on Monday
The Tour of France remains in Switzerland on Sunday. In the second stage from Aigle to Geneva (147.9 kilometers), a sprint decision is again expected, even if at least 1,800 meters of altitude have to be overcome beforehand.
The decisive tests for overall victory will probably be the time trial on Tuesday and the mountain finish at the legendary Mont Ventoux on Friday, among the nine stages.