Key events
That’s the lot from me. Jeremy Whittle’s stage report will be along later. Au revoir et bon soirée.
Factoring in the bonifications (I love that word) Wiebes leads GC by four seconds from Kim Le Court.
The race favourite Vollering is well placed, with four bonus seconds, third in GC after stage one. Oceane Mahé is in polka-dots, and Wiebes leads the points classification due to her opening stage win. She’s got over 130 pro victories now.
“I can’t believe it,” says Wiebes. “The SD Worx-Protime team worked super-hard … Demi attacked, I thought, I need to follow … it was a super-long sprint.
“I expected some attacks … but I felt good with 1km to go. I was a bit blocked, because EF started early, but I thought: ‘I need to go now.’
“I’m really happy with the support from the team … and the staff … they really believed in me, even if I had some doubts, and I am super grateful for this.”
Stage one result
1) Lorena Wiebes (SD-Worx) 3hr 29min 11sec (Bonus:10sec)
2) Kim Le Court (AG Insurance–Soudal) (all same time) (Bonus: 6sec)
3) Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) (Bonus: 4sec)
4) Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech)
5) Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly)
5) Elisa Longo-Borgini (UAE Team L’Imad)
6) Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM)
7) Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease A Bike)
8) Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly)
10) Marlene Reusser (Movistar)
Once Wiebes was there in the final 300m, it looked likely that there would only be one winner. And the gradient was not too difficult in the final metres.
Lorena Wiebes wins stage one!
And there you have it. The Dutchwoman goes deep on the final climb, and accelerates away from Demi Vollering, among others, to take a dominant win.
1km to go: Under the flamme rouge. Wiebes is right there! Then Vollering attacks! Le Court covers the attacks …
1.2km to go: Another crash. There will be some sore bodies in the peloton tomorrow morning.
2km to go: A big right-hander. A flatter section, it looks like, and now a left-hander taken at top speed. Who will be in yellow? Zoe Backstedt (Canyon/SRAM) is up there …
3km to go: The pace is hot, hot, hot! It’s all strung out at the front. And it’s technical, the road winding from left to right … and now on to the final climb.
4km to go: The final climb is 2.5km long, with an average gradient of 4.6%. It’s 490m of climbing. Surely the more powerful sprinters are going to be ruled out on that basis?
6km to go: It’s hectic in that chasing bunch. As you would expect.
The break has been swallowed up! That gap collapsed very quickly …
10km to go: Will Lorena Wiebes have a shot at a sixth career Tour de France stage victory? Plenty of riders will be hoping to deny her the opportunity and the final climb may rule her out of contention.
10.5km to go: Not much progress for the chasing peloton. It’s 46sec for the four leaders.
12km to go: EF Education-Oatly are setting the pace on the front of the peloton. Jonathan Vaughters, the team manager, was apparently spotted in one of their team cars earlier.
15km to go: It’s a 42sec advantage for our four leaders. They’re alternating turns at the front, trying to maximise their chances of a stage win. But behind, the sprinters’ teams are really cranking up the effort levels …
16km to go: So it’s four at the front now. Noskova, Spratt, Rijnbeek and Eraso. They have 39sec on the bunch.
17km to go: The chasers about to catch Noskova! Rowe says Spratt has been doing most of the work, and has obviously been given permission to go for the stage win by her team Lidl-Trek.
19km to go: This is a spectacular descent down to the lake. There are vineyards on either side of the road, and a beautiful view over to Lac Léman.
20km to go: Marlen Reusser (Movistar) crashes on a right-hand downhill bend. It’s a nasty looking impact but true to form for any pro cyclist, she is back on the bike, or perhaps a teammate’s bike, as soon as humanly possible.
22km to go: Noskova has a chance here, riding like this. Although the gap is 1min 30sec. She’s about 50sec ahead of the chase group.
23km to go: Stunning helicopter shots of Lac Léman, adjacent to Lausanne, and the surrounding mountains.
26km to go: Noskova has 33sec on Spratt, Eraso and Rijnbeek, who have joined forces. She has 2min on the chasing peloton.
Noskova is certainly looking like she managed to conserve energy while riding in the break. She is tapping out a fierce tempo, and now leaps out of the saddle to get maximum power through the pedals.
28km to go: Noskova, our lone leader, comes from Jablonec nad Nisou in Czechia. Good cycling round there, plenty of hills, not to mention mountains, including the Krkonose National Park.
30km to go: Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco) crashes heavily in Australian national champion’s kit. That was an unfortunate racing incident.
32km to go: Noskova has 13sec on Eraso: Spratt and Rijnbeek continue to give chase.
33km to go: Now there’s a long descent to a flat section leading into the final climb in Lausanne. It will be full gas from here.
35km to go: Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) is now with Rijnbeek, chasing Eraso, who is chasing Noskova.
36km to go: The road is still heading upwards, which is a quirk of this route design. Ordinarily I think you’d start the descent right after the QOM point, but there you go.
37km to go: Noskova (Cofidis) has attacked solo after the QOM point. She has 10sec on her closest chaser, Eraso.
38km to go: “It’s going to be a very difficult sprint to get right,” says Matt Stephens on TNT Sports, on reporting duty at the finish.
“If they turn up the gas at the foot of the climb, you may be looking at a reduced sprint.”
Côte de Vulliens QOM result
3pts Nikola Noskova (Cofidis)
2pts Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise)
1pt Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi)
That means Mahé has secured the jersey. She now has 8pts, Eraso has five, and there are only 2pts maximum available on the final climb.
41km to go: The peloton grinds up the climb. Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise), Maud Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels), Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) and Nikola Noskova (Cofidis) are the riders in the break. They will be flying down the descent towards the finish soon enough: but after the top of the Côte de Vulliens, there is more climbing to do for a bit before that …
