Liane Lippert (Movistar) uncorked a ferocious turn of speed to win a sprint out of a heavily reduced bunch on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes, surprising stage 1 winner and yellow jersey Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime). The pair were part of a group of less than 25 that came to the line together after a relentless, up-and-down day of nervous racing and more than a few crashes. Kopecky kept the yellow jersey.
- Lippert, the German national champion, patiently followed all the moves late in the race, including on the tricky, wet descent and the final climb of Côte de Trebiac, where SD Worx shut down numerous attacks, including from Canyon-SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma. The majority of the fastest finishers were distanced, but Kopecky had little trouble staying in contact with the group and was the obvious favorite for the sprint. But as team leader Demi Vollering led out the finish, Lippert stayed on Kopecky’s wheel and launched with her at 150 meters to go to get half a bike length clear at the line. Silvia Persico (UAE ADQ) was third.
- While not a big-mountain stage, the 151.7 km route featured six categorized ascents including the finishing Trebiac climb, and almost 2,500 meters of climbing. EF Education-TIBCO-SVB’s Georgia Williams got the action started with Hanna Ludwig (Uno-X), but the pack never let the duo get very far up the road and they were recaptured at 55 km to go as the pace quickened before the day’s primary difficulty, the Category 2 Côte des Plaines. SD Worx kept the pace high, and ultimately the counterattacks didn’t really start to go until after the summit, but even a solid move spearheaded by Fenix-Deceuninck’s Yara Kastelijn didn’t last as they were re-caught on the descent before the final climb.
- Nerves and rain made for a crashy day. Numerous riders went down, often in touches of wheels on otherwise wide, untechnical roads. Elisa Balsamo, Alison Jackson, and Elisa Longo Borghini were three prominent names involved at various points. Lippert and teammate Annemiek van Vleuten were caught in a pileup on the Plaines climb, with Van Vleuten struggling for a moment to disentangle her bike, but ultimately had little trouble getting back in contact with the yellow jersey group. Hard rain in the last 20 made for a dicey descent, with Eva van Agt (Jumbo-Visma) crashing out of the breakaway and Kastelijn overshooting an exit on a roundabout. Mireia Benito (Ag Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) did not finish, nor did Van Agt.
Brief analysis
- Lippert's win was a brief interruption of the season-long domination of SD Worx and a surprise even to her. "No, I didn't think I am going to win," she told TV interviewers of her victory. "I just stayed focused on Lotte in the whole final and stayed really calm." But as she noted "my quality is more the uphill, longer, harder sprints" and the climb into the finish absolutely fit that bill. What the win also does is provide a more complex challenge for SD Worx against chief rival Annemiek van Vleuten. Lippert's win is a statement that she has great form too, which means SD Worx can't simply key off Van Vleuten.
- That said, the SD Worx team is clearly still the main animator of the action. The team controlled the Category 2 Plaines climb, riding at a high-enough pace to discourage attacks, and Marlen Reusser was alert on the final ascent to neutralize most attacks, including two from Niewiadoma. Reusser herself tried to go near the top but was shut down as well. Today's stage was one that might have started to just separate the GC, but the more defensive racing has kept things tight. One exception: FDJ-Suez's Marta Cavalli finished more than three minutes down. She's still a threat for the late mountain stages, but Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig or Évita Muzic will have to carry any GC aspirations for the team.
- An early battle for the Queen of the Mountains jersey is taking shape, with Kastelijn taking top points and the lead in that competition. Tuesday may be another active day, with a descent leading to a Category 3 climb (max 5 points) to start the day.
Quote of the day
Stage 3 preview
After Kopecky's attack snatched the stage 1 victory and the punchers and GC riders came to the fore on stage 2, stage 3 may finally offer a sprinters showdown. The 147.2 km route from Collonges-la-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaux features four climbs, but three are relatively small Category 4 ascents and the last one, the Côte de Saint Robert, is just 1.1 km long and comes more than 50 km from the finish. There's always a chance for a breakaway, but so far the TdFF is following the pattern from the Giro Donne where attackers never got much of a lead, so a bunch sprint is the likeliest outcome. Look for SD Worx's Lorena Wiebes against DSM-Firmenich's Charlotte Kool and of course Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma).
Additional reading:
- FDJ-Suez manager Stephen Delcourt has some strong words about what SD Worx's domination means for the sport.
- Mavi García hung tough today and has her sights set on the final stages, including that Tourmalet ascent.
- Still mulling over Jonas Vingegaard's jaw-dropping performance in that stage 16 TT in the men's Tour de France? Here's a deep dive into Jumbo-Visma's leave-no-detail-untouched approach that helped make it happen.
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