Lorena Wiebes was looking forward to the sprint in the third stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Monday. She lived up to her role as favorite in Angers by beating Marianne Vos, who did take the yellow jersey.
“I had waited 160 kilometers for that sprint. I couldn’t wait any longer and went on at 200 meters. At one point I was too excited,” Wiebes said to the camera of the NOS.
“I also had to finish it. The team had worked so hard, I couldn’t afford to lose after the girls had been leading for so long.” The Belgian Lotte Kopecky played an important role in the stage victory.
For the 26-year-old Wiebes, this was the first success of this edition of the Tour de France Femmes. In 2022 she won two stages, one a year later.
Vos was after the victory in Angers, but couldn’t compete against her twelve-year younger compatriot. Last year the roles were reversed in her own country, during the Amstel Gold Race, where Vos triumphed.
“I will never forget Marianne after the Amstel,” said Wiebes, who cheered too early last year in the most important race in her own country and saw Vos win. “I felt now that she was in my wheel. But I looked over my shoulder and felt that she could no longer get over it. It is super nice to win here.”
‘Never got out of the wheel’
Vos did not win the stage, but she still had reason to cheer. She took the yellow jersey. “I was in a good position, but I never got out of the wheel. That yellow jersey is very beautiful,” she said at the NOS.
Like Wiebes, Vos could have crossed the finish line with her arms in the air for the fourth time in the Tour. She won the first stage on Saturday and was the best twice in 2022.
The Tour de France Femmes continues on Tuesday with a stage of over 130 kilometers, from Saumur to Poitiers.