There were contrasting emotions at the finish of the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes. Perhaps it was the 33-degree heat heightening each rider's reactions, or maybe it was the gravity of being at the biggest bike race in the world, but angry words were spoken, and tears were flowing on the roads of The Hague. While stage winner Charlotte Kool celebrated passionately with her teammates on one side of the barriers, Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime banged her handlebars in frustration and gestured angrily to those who tried to console her.
The Dutch rider’s emotions were understandable: she was the stand-out favourite to win the opening stage of the race and get the first yellow jersey. It’s something she’s done before on the first stage of the 2021 Tour de France, and her performances this season have all pointed to her being the fastest sprinter in the world right now. The stars just needed to align for Wiebes to pull off the win, and for a long time, it looked like they were.
As expected, the stage stayed together for a bunch kick, and the SD Worx-Protime lead-out train went to script. European champion Mischa Bredewold dropped off the front of the bunch just before Wiebes was due to open up her devastating sprint and blow away the competition, but that was when things started to unravel. The dream of a yellow jersey disappeared up the road alongside the back wheel of Kool, who sprinted to victory. Wiebes went backwards quickly, her chain had dropped, and, after all the work of her team, she was unable to contest the win. It was not the start of the Tour de France she had expected.
“Lorena was going really well. We were there super early, but the whole team is so strong, but you need a chain to sprint,” Bredewold commented after the stage. “We knew it was going be super hectic, that’s why we needed to be in front all day, and that was really hard. But luckily nobody crashed. There are some big crashes, I think, so I hope those girls are OK."
The stage’s second-place finisher, Anniina Ahtosalo, was directly behind Wiebes when disaster struck for the SD Worx rider.
“I think it was me who somehow touched her back wheel or something,” Ahtosalo said a few moments after crossing the finish line. “She then lost her gears. For sure, she is one of the, maybe even the fastest, in the bunch, so the result would have been different [if that didn’t happen].”
The most frustrating thing for SD Worx, it seems, is that Wiebes felt robbed of the opportunity to even get her chance at winning today. If she’d been able to sprint and was still beaten by someone else, the loss still would have stung, but things wouldn’t have felt as unjust for the Dutch squad.
“It’s just hard to take when you don’t even have the chance to go for your luck. These last months, Lorena was multiple times the fastest in sprints. Taking the yellow jersey in her own country was a big dream for her. It’s just really unfortunate she couldn’t go for it. Tomorrow, we will try again,” SD Worx sports director Danny Stam commented.
With another sprint opportunity tomorrow, there is no doubt that Wiebes and her team will be more motivated than ever to get the victory they feel is possible in this Tour de France. The 25-year-old’s fiery emotion comes from a desperate desire to win, something that will only fuel Wiebes for the other chances she has over the next week. SD Worx-Protime may be down after today’s stage, but they are certainly not out.
“Tomorrow, we go in a rematch,” Bredewold said.
