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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
John Brewin

Tour de France Femmes 2024: Charlotte Kool claims stage one in The Hague – as it happened

Rotterdam The Hague
Charlotte Kool crosses the line to win.
Charlotte Kool crosses the line to win. Photograph: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images

Jeremy Whittle’s report will follow presently. Thanks for reading.

General classification after Stage 1

  • 1 C Kool (Ned) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 2hrs 47mins 40secs

  • 2 A Ahtosalo (Fin) Uno-X Mobility

  • 3 E Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek

  • 4 L Henttala (Fin) EF-Oatly-Cannondale

  • 5 M Vos (Ned) Team Visma | Lease a Bike all at same time
    Selected Others: 51 A Henderson (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, 70 P Georgi (Gbr) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, 96 E Holden (Gbr) UAE Team ADQ, 100 L Deignan (Gbr) Lidl-Trek all at same time, 141 A Towers (Gbr) CANYON//SRAM Racing +01:14, 147 B Storrie (Gbr) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL +02:46, DNF: N Grinczer (Gbr) Roland

Full result

  • 1 C Kool (Ned) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 2hrs 47mins 40secs

  • 2 A Ahtosalo (Fin) Uno-X Mobility

  • 3 E Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek

  • 4 L Henttala (Fin) EF-Oatly-Cannondale

  • 5 M Vos (Ned) Team Visma | Lease a Bike all at same time

  • Selected Others: 51 A Henderson (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, 70 P Georgi (Gbr) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, 96 E Holden (Gbr) UAE Team ADQ, 100 L Deignan (Gbr) Lidl-Trek all at same time, 141 A Towers (Gbr) CANYON//SRAM Racing +01:14, 147 B Storrie (Gbr) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL +02:46, DNF: N Grinczer (Gbr) Roland

Four of these riders abandoned today –

  • DNFELMURODOVA Mohinabonu

  • PCTDNFKAKHOROVA Madina

  • PCTDNFKNEBELEVA Ekaterina

  • PCTDNFRIZAEVA Asal

As did GB and Roland’s Natalie Grinczer, whose return to racing did not go well.

George Lawrence gets in touch: “From the text updates on Guardian, obviously an exciting start to the racing! Why isn’t there terrestrial coverage here in UK (the website suggests there is in mainland Europe)? I suspect there’s a market that just isn’t being developed - I’m guessing the advertising on ITV4’s coverage of TdF covered the costs?”

So does Tom Paternoster: “Interestingly, as Motty would have said, the full name of Den Haag is ‘s Gravenhage, which means The Count’s Hunting Lodge.”

Stage 1 result and General Classification

  • 1. Charlotte Kool 2:47:40 - 10 second time bonus

  • 2. Anniina Ahtosalo “ – 6 seconds

  • 3. Elisa Balsamo “ – 4 seconds

Updated

Charlotte Kool speaks: “It’s unbelievable, a dream coming true after a not-so easy season. It was really hectic. I like it. I like chaos. It hurt so bad but it was enough. This is the best day of my life.”

Lorena Wiebes’ chain went just as she looked to have it won. Instead, it was her compatriot who will wear yellow.

Updated

Charlotte Kool wins Stage 1 of Tour de France Femmes!

What an amazing leadout, and the home rider takes advantage of confusion among other teams and wins by a street.

Updated

1km to go: Flamme rouge time…

2km to go: Cagey but fearful but flying along, the hammer is coming down. Where is Vos? All eyes on the big players. There’s been a crash at the back as riders drop their speed. Ooof.

Updated

3.2km to go: Here comes blind corner, and they sweep round. It’s a sharp one. All out to the finish line….

4km to go: They are within the time limit, all crashers get the same time as the people they were with. The sprint teams snake across the streets.

5km to go: Demi Vollering is playing leadout for her SD Worx team.

6km to go: The parklands of the Hague are negotiated, and then it’s back to those classic Dutch residential streets, with huge crowds. The big turn is 3.2km out. Nerves aplenty.

9km to go: The speed is being picked up, the sprint teams sending their riders to the front, and burning their matches as they do. Britain’s Becky Storrie is off the back.

10km to go: This is one hell of a lengthy leadout, as we head into the admin centre of the Netherlands. What does Den Haag mean – the hunting lodge. Your fact of the day there.

15km to go: This really is going to go to the sprint, barring a wildcat attack in the closing clicks. The race is circling The Hague, on the outskirts now. The size of the pack means it looks as if they are slow, when they are actually zinging along.

20km to go: The official pictures have shown that there are a lot of golf courses in the Netherlands. A sign of wealth, perhaps. Can we name a top Dutch golfer? They had a fine Olympics, despite Marianne Vos only getting silver.

25km to go: Tom Paternoster-Howe gets in touch: “Greetings from a roasting hot Hague (i suppose that should be The roasting hot Hague).

“There’s already a pretty decent crowd here at the finish line. Some folks have been leaning on the barriers for a couple of hours already. Thankfully the local council have been giving out free suntan lotion, or there might be some serious burns.

“On today’s stage, i was rather disappointed the organisers didn’t take advantage of the winding cyclepaths through the dunes. The climbs might be short, but some of them are frightfully steep and they could have produced some interesting splits in the peloton.

“I can’t believe they had a categorised climb finishing 5m above sea level. It’s like they are trying to reinforce stereotypes. Are they going to make the stage winner pose in clogs holding a wheel of cheese and some tulips?”

Back in the pack, Lidl’s Amanda Spratt has had a problem. As she remounted, she almost crashed into a fellow straggler. Her left hand seems to be the issue.

30km to go: The speed is building up as they enter the final 30 clicks. It feels like that sprint was a rehearsal for what will follow in the Hague. The sea breeze hasn’t whipped up so there is no split in the pack.

There will be points on offer at the finish so Vos won’t be keeping green. It will depend on this finish.

35km to go: Some sad news from before. Feels like the speed of the race was too much.

Marianne Vos takes the sprint

Big power to stay away from Ruby Roseman-Gannon in second. Vos will take her green jersey into Wednesday, with there being a time trial tomorrow.

40km to go: The sprint at Groeneweg draws near as the team attempt to get in formation. Marianne Vos is among those looking to take the sprint points. The road switches left and then left again.

Updated

45km to go: The peloton is rather split by the need for nourishment, as it takes to a narrow road, as it swings left off the dual carriageway. They zoom towards that intermediate sprint.

50km to go: There was something there that looked like the brow of a hill. They go through a feeding station, drinks and musettes desired as they travel along at a hell of a speed. There’s no such thing as idling here.

55km to go: The pack is back together, waiting for the next break, as they motor to Vlaardingen. The next thing to consider is an intermediate sprint in 20km or so.

61km to go: Realini and Deignan are giving full chase and have halved the gap to the peloton. Tonetti’s lead is meanwhile dropping as she approaches the Maasdeltatunnel, and that will mean she will wear polka tonight. And through to Wednesday. She leads by 39 seconds. The Queen of the Mountains chase continues with a sprint. Ruby Roseman-Gannon takes the spring point on offer. Tonetti soon drops back to the peloton.

65km to go: The gap is over a minute to the chasers but that crash has opened great gaps in the pack. Ahead: the mountain points, to be won by dropping under sea level and then climbing up in a tunnel. Deignan and Realini working hard together, a lot of fuel being burned up.

A crash on the bridge!

70km to go: Tonetti has done quite a job. The main chasers are 56 seconds behind. Suddenly, there’s been a prang on a narrow patch of road. All seem ok, though plenty of mechanicals to be sorted. Lizzie Deignan has to get on a spare bike. It happened on the front of the peloton, and a concertina effect. Australia’s Grace Brown is one of those affected. Gaia Realini, FDJ’s team leader, will have to be paced back to the front by Deignan, who is her road captain. That’s a gap over three minutes.

Updated

73km to go: William Preston gets in touch: “Good morning. That’s an absolutely brilliant route for the race, and sets the scene brilliantly for some final day thrilling heroics. The Stage 3 time trial could be a chance to get a stomp on to get some time in the bank for the climbs into he final two days, but the hilly stage in between could throw up an upset. Also, that bike looks amazingly cool.”

Updated

75km to go: The peloton continues to look for breaks. Here’s one! Italy’s Cristina Tonetti goes off at quite a lick and opens up a gap of 10 seconds. This would be some break if she stayed away. And she takes it to 20, then to 30. As it’s just one rider away, the peloton seems relaxed enough.

88km to go: A feeding station is negotiated, to loud applause, and into the Dutch countryside they power. This is more open road, and the talk is of crosswinds. A few push to the front as if to escape the echelons. Can they stay away? Panic in the peloton? It’s pulled back into shape.

95km to go: The breakaway was fun while it lasted. But it didn’t last very long. The Dutch fans are out in force, packing every bridge. Hugely impressive turnout. Cycling is the national sport, after all. Mode of transport, in fact.

100km to go: A break – climbing past 20 seconds – and made of three riders. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and Gaia Masetti (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) followed Iurani Blanco’s (Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi). What will the GC teams do? The answer is to put the hammer down and soon to close the gap.

Updated

105km to go: As they head out of the suburbs, they dip in and out of a tunnel. The FDJ-Suez team is at the front of the peloton. Évita Muzic is their main contender for GC, though it’s a highly ambitious team.

115km to go: These roads in Rotterdam are rather narrow until they reach a dual carriageway. Lots of road furniture around, and that could be a problem. It’s 28 degrees out there, a windspeed of 14km/h. There’s been no breakaway so far. But the tension is high, and the pack of 154 riders is being spread out. Lidl/Trek, featuring Lizzie Deignan, are up at the front and there’s a huge crowd on one of the bridges. Demi Vollering is way back in the pack, being protected by her superdomestique.

And away we go in Rotterdam!

120km to go: After that nervy wait, the flag is waved, and it’s destination La Haye – The Hague, Den Haag – and the pace is breakneck already.

Before the départ réel, they are flying along, and there’s punctures and wobbles galore. That’s likely to delay the race until after Kilometre Zero. Lots of people out in the streets of Rotterdam. Elena Pirrone has a flat and her hand up. The commissaires are aware.

Another favourite for the day is the Paris 2024 winner.

Updated

Crash before the start line!

The teams are idling through the depart fictif, and 7km out, there’s been a crash. Nothing drastic, a few mechanicals, nobody hurt but a measure of the tensions out there. A pair of riders are being paced back to the peloton.

Updated

The favourite is last year’s winner, according to Jeremy Whittle’s preview.

Over eight stages, including a split stage of road race and time trial on Tuesday, the peloton will race south from the Low Countries to the Alps, via the Ardennes, Vosges and Jura. The highest point will be the 1,924-metre Col du Glandon, appearing on stage eight’s route to the Alpe, when the peloton will tackle just under 4,000 metres of climbing.

Updated

Preamble

This could be Rotterdam or anywhere, except this year’s opening stage actually does begin in the Dutch port city, before ending in the Hague. It’s a flat day but don’t expect anyone to be taking it easy – who does in modern-day cycling? A sprint finish is likely but so is a breakaway. The sun is hot in Rotterdam, where they are going through the prelims.

We go all the way down to Alpe D’Huez.

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