VETERAN Dutch rider Marianne Vos took the overall leader’s jersey in the women’s Tour de France on Monday after finishing second behind compatriot Lorena Wiebes on the third stage.
Three-time former world champion Vos, 38, moved six seconds ahead of Mauritius’ Kim Le Court in the general classification after a flat 163.5km ride from La Gacilly to Angers in western France.
France’s Olympic cross-country champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot completed the top three, 12 seconds behind, with last year’s Tour winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma fourth.
One-day expert Vos has made an impressive start to this year’s edition of the Tour, having won Saturday’s opening stage in Vannes.
Despite her incredible list of achievements, including 2012’s Olympic gold, the women’s Giro d’Italia and countless Classic success, she has yet to win the Tour, but wore the yellow jersey in 2022 for five days.
“We knew there was quite a good chance for a bunch sprint,“ Vos said.
“In the end when it comes to a bunch sprint you know that Lorena Wiebes is going to be the big favourite, but of course you still always try,“ she added.
The end of the stage on the banks of the Loire river, best known for wine production, was marred by a mass crash as pre-stage favourite Demi Vollering fell.
FDJ-SUEZ’s Dutch rider Vollering, who finished second overall last year, remains fifth in the overall standings despite the incident with 3.7km to go to the finish line.
“She wants to continue, but we just need time to go to the hotel, examine, go to the hospital and after one night, we can come back to you to tell you,“ FDJ-SUEZ’s general manager Stephen Delcourt told reporters.
“She’s completely shocked. She has a pain at the knees, a pain at the glutes and pain at the back.
“We need to wait, because we never know if it’s just the shock because she crashed or she needs time,“ he added.
After the crash, two-time former European champions Wiebes, 26, held on to secure her fourth Tour stage win, adding to her 15 successed so far this season.
Tuesday’s fourth of nine stages on the fourth edition of the women’s Tour is another flat ride, stretching 130.7km south from Saumur, also on the Loire river, to Poitiers. – AFP
