Jeremy Whittle's stage three report
Here’s how our man on the spot saw today’s stage. Thanks for joining us today, and come back tomorrow for more!
And the fun never stops. Tomorrow’s stage four is another hilly ’un – 126.8km from Troyes to Bar-sur-Aube. Two category three climbs and three category fours … but it’s the arrival of gravelly unpleasantness that really adds interest and jeopardy.
The backloaded stage sees the – dare I say fairly sedate? – opening 60km culminate in an intermediate sprint, before all of Côte de Celles-sur-Ource, Val des Clos, Maître Jean, Vitry and Val Perdu arrive in quick succession to pummel legs and lungs.
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After the finish, Van Vleuten reports a “stomach infection” hampering her efforts in the race so far, which could explain an extraordinary topsy-turvy, back-to-nearly-front effort from the Dutch rider.
She told Eurosport: “Today was an awesome day compared to yesterday – I couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink, I was tired. Last thing I was thinking about was racing. Today I was quite optimistic as I could eat breakfast.”
The day belongs to a beaming Ludwig, however, having launched herself into the top 10, up from 51rd in the general classification after Monday’s stage.
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Provisional standings after stage three
General classification
1 Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) 8hrs 30mins 36secs
2 Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) +0:16sec
3 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) +0:16
4 Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) +0:21
5 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (SD Worx) +0:51
6 Margarita Victo García Cañellas (UAE Team ADQ) +0:55
7 Demi Vollering (SD Worx) +0:57
8 Juliette Labour (DSM) +1:05
9 Anna van Vleuten (Movistar) +1:14
10 Cecilie Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) +1:48
It was a glorious to-and-fro finish, with at least five riders looking well placed in the closing 250m, particularly Vos. By the line it was actually an emphatic victory for the Dane, who upped the pace while others were struggling to maintain theirs on a gruelling uphill finish.
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Cecilie Ludwig speaks!
“It feels like such a good comeback after a – I have to say it – a fucking shit day yesterday. I just love how the team kept the fighting spirit. If I had the legs, I could try and do the win – but to actually do it and be a Tour de France stage winner, in this jersey [she’s wearing the Danish national jersey] … it doesn’t get better. I just kept fighting. What a victory, man. This is for my team – they kept believing in me.”
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The nature of cycling … the first mention I gave Ludwig today was her reflecting on her “shit day” in stage two. The second mention is me letting you know she’s leapfrogged a host of lead group contenders to take the win on stage three. She’s now lying flat on her front on the Épernay tarmac, grinning from ear to ear.
Cecilie Ludwig wins stage three!
A stunning finish by the Dane, measuring it gloriously, swinging right and digging in to overhaul Vos. Moolman-Pasio takes third.
🏁 🇩🇰@CUttrupLudwig wins a tough sprint between favorites in @villeepernay.
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 26, 2022
⏪ Relive the last kilometre of the 3rd stage.
🏁 🇩🇰@CUttrupLudwig remporte un sprint entre favorites à @villeepernay.
⏪ Revivez le dernier kilomètre de la 3ème étape du #TDFF.#WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/Gp0AzAzA0V
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500m to go: It’s ANYBODY’s …
1.5km to go: Vollering still leads. Vos is tucked in third. Van Vleuten, impossibly, is back in touch. It’s going to be a superb finish.
3km to go: Downhill they fly. Vos is in touch and looks safe in yellow, barring disaster. The lead group is down to nine. Vollering looks strong and takes the initiative.
4.8km to go: Cat and mouse on the climb, but Faulkner tries again. Longo Borghini takes the initiative and just holds off Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Moolman-Pasio for three well-earned bonus seconds. Meanwhile Van Vleuten has flagged horribly in the closing stages of the bonus section and has been dropped.
5.5km to go: Faulkner attacks again, but looks back to find Vos right on her wheel. The pace calms before the group turn sharply to attack Mont Bernon.
8km to go: Results on the last climb …
1 Vollering 3pts
2 Lippert 2pts
3 Longo Borghini 1pt
Vos has dragged the chase group phenomenally, eating away the 21 seconds in no time. There’s no 11 up there. García strikes, then Kristen Faulkner (Bike Exchange-Jayco). It’s great drama as the bonus climb approaches.
10km to go: Into the final 6.22 miles. Vollering is in the group with Vos, who senses the threat to her dapper yellow threads and is grimacing, but more in that ominous-for-others rather than worrying-for-her way. The gap holds steady at 21 seconds.
11km to go: This is an extremely strong lead group. In terms of virtual GC, Longo Borghini is also currently on course to overhaul Vos. The yellow jersey holder is in the group 21 seconds back.
15km to go: Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Liane Lippert (DSM) lead the group out, but on a tight left-hander, both riders get it wrong and tumble!
Van Vleuten, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (SD Worx), Silvia Persico (Valcar–Travel & Service), Margarita Victor García (UAE Team ADQ) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) are now setting the pace. Persico is a live threat to Vos’s yellow jersey if she can stay up front.
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17km to go: A brace of crashes in quick succession. Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) goes down, and a multi-bike tumble accounts for riders including Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ Suez Futuroscope). No huge harm done and everyone looks like they get going again.
Amialiusik gives way up front, and Vos and Van Vleuten are among a group of 11 leading the way as the 12.2% gradient bites hard.
19km to go: Confirmation of the outcome of a peloton flurry for the lesser places in the sprint: Lotte Kopecky (SD-Worx) and Vos were third and fourth in the sprint. With those efforts behind her, however, Bredewold’s goose looks cooked and she’s reeled in. Amialiusik is now just 11 seconds clear, with Côte de Mutigny starting to bite.
This climb is where, three years ago, Julian Alaphilippe burst free in The Men’s One to a memorable solo victory.
21km to go: Amialiusik takes the intermediate sprint by default, crossing the line some 500m clear of the peloton. Bredewold is on her own in second.
22.5km to go: Bredewold is flying on the descent through the streets of Épernay. Amialiusik is wobbling a little in the saddle but the gap remains at 25 seconds.
🏁 22 km
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 26, 2022
⚡️ Behind @amialiusik, it's now 🇳🇱@MischaBredewold who breaks away from the peloton.
⚡️ Derrière @amialiusik, c'est au tour de 🇳🇱@MischaBredewold de sortir du peloton. #TDFF #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/gWPSnb0NQG
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24.5km to go: Chasers are all gobbled up – the pack is seriously on the move. The gap to the front is now under half a minute. Bredewold tries to go again to chase down Amialiusik.
26km to go: Still to come: an intermediate sprint (in 4km), followed 5km later by Côte de Mutigny, and then a bonus climb at Mont Bernon just before the finish. Amialiusik is going for this, still well over half a minute clear. The peloton is charging, however – they’ve found over 10 seconds in the last kilometre.
30km to go: Bredewold joins the chasing pair, but the gap to the front is increasing – now 41 seconds. The peloton is over a minute off the front now, and that gap won’t be lost on Confalonieri (who started the day 45 seconds off the yellow jersey) and Bredewold (who begain 1:07 back).
33km to go: Amialiusik started the day 34 seconds off the lead and fancies this. A dicey, tight right-hand corner with a touch of uphill, with legs and minds tiring, grinds several riders to a near-halt. The gap to the chase pair stretches to 36 seconds.
Mischa Bredewold (Parkhotel Valkenburg) has overhaled Levenez and is now alone between the chasers and the peloton.
Further back, nature called for Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten, but her ensuring charge, with teammates in tow, has helped drag a host of riders back to the pack.
36km to go: While I’ve been moaning about telly things, Borghesi’s chase has ebbed, and she’s with Confalonieri 30 seconds behind Amialiusik. Sandra Levenez (Cofidis) is now trying to join the chasing pair as the field fragments. The peloton is almost 55 seconds back.
Updated
More correspondence on the TV coverage …
Janice Jones writes: “Does Eurosport have the same feed as France tv3? I too am livid that for today and yesterday the Tour didn’t start on France Télévision until after 50km had passed. Can I have a collective ‘wtf?’ please?”
Nick Stapley adds: “The presenter was saying in the pre-show that they are showing everything that has been supplied to them by ASO [Amaury Sport Organisation] and it’s ASO that have not supplied footage from the start of the race.”
Whatever the reason, it’s a real shame. As an example, at 11am Eurosport were showing a one-hour edition of Hall of Fame Atlanta 1996, followed by an hour of highlights from yesterday’s stage. It’s certainly not a “no room in the schedules” problem.
40km to go: Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ceratizit-WNT) and Gladys Verhulst (Arkéa) are putting down the hammer. Borghesi is closing in on Amialiusik but the front pair are blowing hard.
42km to go: Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Tibco-SVB) is on the charge betwixt peloton and leader. She’s reduced the gap to eight seconds.
44km to go: Alena Amialiusik, one of Chabbey’s Canyon-SRAM teammates, makes a move on the downhill and opens up a 22-second gap.
That last climb has taken a toll on a host of riders. Vos is still safely in the peloton, but Wiebes – in the green jersey as she is second in the points standings behind the yellow jersey holder – is falling away badly. She’s now 26 seconds off the back of the main bunch.
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47km to go: The riders rise once more through stunning Grand Est streets – at its most testing, Mesnil-sur-Oger hits 6.7%, but as they leave the towns, vineyards sprawl in all directions, and the wind starts to bite.
With 500m to go, Chabbey looks better set for climbing points, with two Canyon-SRAM teammates on hand … but nope … Gerritse swings out and takes her fifth and sixth off the day. It’s been a fabulously judged performance today by the Parkhotel Valkenburg rider.
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50km to go: The breakaway is hauled in, but the difference in visible effort being exerted by the peloton compared to the pre-Vertus spell of riding is marked, despite the current pace more or less matching it.
Gareth Thomas writes:
“I am quite disgusted with the failure of Eurosport to live up to their commitment. Having cancelled my subscription I am now watching the race on RTVE (with Spanish commentary) and shall finish the week watching that channel.
“How can Eurosport justify this failure after three weeks of faultless coverage of the TDF men’s race? It looks very careless indeed.”
A reminder: this Eurosport page states, as have related pages for the first two stages … “Each and every stage will be broadcast from the start line to the finish on Eurosport and GCN+” This is very clearly not the case – around 50km of this stage had already been ridden before the broadcaster started showing live pictures.
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52km to go: On the descent, Gerritse and Chabbey are joined by Audrey Cordon Ragot (Trek-Segafredo). Côte du Mesnil-sur-Oger – another category four climb – is but a short jaunt away, and they have 10 seconds in hand on the peloton.
55km to go: Vertus bites and the snake’s tail elongates. Vos is within 10 bikelengths of the front with 200m to go. With the gradient hitting 9%, Gerritse climbs out of the saddle, pulling away comfortably to take two more points and consolidate her lead in the climbing standings. Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) takes her second point of the stage with another second place.
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57km to go: Iris “Slappy” Slappendel, riding pillion on the motorbike for Eurosport, warns of a change in wind direction and pesky fine gravel on the road ahead as potential hazards. One way or another, a fairly easy-looking peloton is getting shaken up imminently.
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59km to go: Broad-sitting peloton and a marginally slimmer stretch of road sees some riders go a little bit cross-country, briefly riding on the (mercifully short) grass in their quest to find a bit of free road for themselves. No associated dramas to report. The peak of the next climb is now within 5km.
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62km to go: Fair play to Eurosport, who cut to a pre-recorded interview with Cecilie Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) who repeatedly laments her “shit day” on stage two. No apology for the terrible language or anything. You don’t get that on ITV4.
Looks like all stragglers might be back on terms thanks to a slight drop in pace. A quick reminder that we have 2x category four climbs, 1x category three, an intermediate sprint and a bonus climb (Mont Bernon) still to come. This stage packs a fair bit into its last 54km.
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65km to go: Just over 10km until Vertus adds 700 metres at 7% gradient into proceedings. Certainly feels like a holding pattern for now.
67km to go: A glorious, sweeping right-hand turn offers a little respite from the wind to the left, as the riders tear past stunning woodland, but in truth this section feels like the calm before the storm as dozens of arms swing round to reach for gels.
70km to go: Vos is safely up front in the bunch and looks predictably smooth. FDJ try to assert themselves but DSM sweep in. The work is being shared but it’s clear that the stronger teams are eyeing this stage.
72km to go: I say that … as the riders find themselves flanked by acres of flat open fields, and Billy Wind a-blowin’, stragglers are starting to feel the burn and drop off at the back. The pace has been fairly metronomic between 40-42km/h since Trépail.
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74km to go: The big hitters at the front of the peloton, with Movistar, Jumbo-Visma, SD Worx and DSM all prominent, make the most of long straight sections of road to finally reel in the breakers. The peloton is as one once more.
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75km to go: Markus looks over her shoulder as the leaders rattle over a level crossing, and doesn’t look too surprised to see the pack closing in. The lead pair don’t look like they want to be swallowed up just yet, and they maintain the gap at around five seconds.
78km to go: There’s still 24km to go until Vertus arrives but the gap swiftly closes. It’s down to 12 … then eight … seven … six … five …
80km to go: Perhaps buoyed by the news that they’re on the telly, the pack briefly take a little time out of the lead pair, but a couple of technical turns favour those with less company, and the gap yawns out to 28 seconds.
83km to go: Valerie Demey (Liv Racing-Xstra) tries to bridge the gap, but can’t hold the peloton off. The time from front-to-pack has stayed fairly consistent between 17-20 seconds for around 7km.
Meanwhile I can confirm that Eurosport are finally pointing a live camera at today’s action. For all that the Tour de France Femmes is a brilliant development for women’s cycling, the next great leap forward surely has to be to showcase every spin of the wheels from start to finish.
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87km to go: The pace on the flat has been consistently over 40km/h, and repeat attempted bust-outs from the peloton are helping to up the tempo and draw the leaders back in. The gap is now down to 17 seconds.
89km to go: It’s Allin and Markus up front, with 21 seconds in hand on the bunch, but the pace is picking up. De Jong made an effort to bridge the gap, but was swallowed up once more.
90km to go: Markus starts to reel Allin in. Vos, meanwhile, is safely there in the peloton.
95km to go: Markus is on the move. The gap’s down to 22 seconds from the lead, but Allin is now 38 up on the peloton.
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98km to go: Arkéa clearly fancy shaking things up on this stage. Allin has munched half a minute out of the pack. No sign of a response from just yet.
99km to go: Noemie Abgrall (Stade Rochelais-Charent Maritime) and Pauline Allin (Arkéa Pro) have a go. Allin’s move proves more decisive and she rapidly opens up a 20-second lead.
100km to go: As the distance remaining ticks into double digits, there’s plenty of flattish road ahead before the next notable “bump” – the category 4 Côte de Vertus, is another 56km away.
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102km to go: “Come in, come in, the road’s lovely,” coos the peloton. Fortin’s effort’s over and she files back in.
103km to go: It’s a tough effort trying to break on a lengthy flat section, and Fortin is getting reeled in by Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa Pro).
105km to go: Home hope Valentine Fortin (Cofidis) has a go, and opens up a 20-second gap to the pack. Meanwhile Maeva Squiban (Stade Rochelais Charente Maritime) – another of the walking/riding wounded after tumbling yesterday – has turned in her helmet, pump and bell. It’s been a bruising old few days on the roads.
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111km to go: The peloton is back as one at the top of the first climb, and by the peak there’s a new leader in the climbing standings – Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg) takes two points on Trépail, has leapfrogged Markus, and now has four points.
Femke Gerritse took the points on the 1km Côte de Trépail, today's first classified climb. It has been a fast start with the race fracturing and coming back together several times already. They've averaged 36.3km/h for the first 21.6km 💨 #TDFF #TDFFdata pic.twitter.com/WjqdsDP82i
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 26, 2022
112km to go: Having looked worryingly like dropping well off the peloton – the gap was briefly over 20 seconds – the stragglers work together to get back on terms.
114km to go: Van Dijk can’t consolidate the break, and is caught – Vos, Maike Van Der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo), Lorena Wiebes (DSM) and climbing standings leader Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg) are up front as the first decent ascent arrives.
116.5km to go: The gap is now eight seconds from front to peloton, with several riders now falling off the back. Van Dijk leads the charge, with the Côte de Trépail arriving shortly.
Another to fall victim yesterday during the Frain incident (second hat-tipped to Peter van Balen) was Laura Sussemilch, who ended the day in a neck brace. She also crashed during stage one in a race to forget for the Plantur-Pura rider.
🇨🇵 @LeTourFemmes
— Plantur-Pura Cycling Team (@PlanturPura) July 25, 2022
📢 UPDATE from Laura Süßemilch:
She broke two vertebrae and must wear a neck collar for the time being. The fractures are stable and she hopes to return to Germany soon. We wish her a good recovery! #PlanturPura 💙💜
118km to go: Vos joins a five-strong attack in a brief uphill section. They immediately munch six seconds out of the peloton.
120km to go: Some flickers of attempted breaks, but nothing decisive just yet. Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) heads the pack. Until …
124km to go: “C’mere,” says the peloton, swallowing up the two breakers, presumably tutting, shaking their heads and asking them both what they were thinking.
125km to go: The lead group is down to two: Thalita De Long (Liv Racing Xstra) and Martina Alzini (Cofidis) eke out a seven-second gap to the peloton.
130km to go: A group of nine is reportedly tee-hee-heeing up front while others blow at the back. I’d love to tell you who they are, but Eurosport currently has an Apple ad on.
Another rider not on the line this morning (hat-tip to Peter van Balen) is Amanda Spratt of the BikeExchange–Jayco team. The Australian was one of the sprawled unfortunates beneath the hurtling Frain in the aforementioned crash, and although she doggedly trudged to the line, 10 minutes back from the lead, last night’s report of monitoring in light of right ribs, knee and wrist concerns has turned into a morning withdrawal.
🚨 UPDATE 🚨
— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) July 26, 2022
Unfortunately, @AmandaSpratt will not start Stage 3 of #TDFF today.
Team Sport Director Martin Vestby explains Spratty's condition 🎙️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Kul5zghkUI
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To burst any bubbles readers may have … maybe picturing me hugging Alberto Contador for dear life on the back of a motorbike in north-east France, while trying to type something, anything one-handed on a laptop … today’s blog comes to you from my second bedroom in SG19.
Strangely, despite big talk of “each and every stage will be broadcast from the start line to the finish on Eurosport”, this doesn’t appear to be the case, and the broadcaster appears to be sticking with highlights from yesterday’s stage despite the stage now being very much under way. Curious.
We Shall Overcome. The riders burst out of Reims as one, I’m told. We’ll keep tabs on any breakaways via the SUDDENLY VERY IMPORTANT OMIGOD DON’T BREAK DON’T BREAK live tracking.
Eurosport have been replaying yesterday’s horrendous crash … and it really doesn’t get any less grim through multiple rewatches. I won’t be going to go out of my way to link you up to that one.
Today’s neutralised start has begun. Fingers crossed as much of the peloton as possible stays upright and graze-free this day.
🚩 Stage 3 is underway!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 26, 2022
🚩 C'est parti pour l'étape 3 !
👋@VilledeReims 🔜 @villeepernay 🏁#TDFF #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/62sjPRw6qS
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Dani Rowe has been making predictions … the former Team GB stalwart, with a string of wins on the road throughout her career, is backing Vos, Kopecky and Longo Borghini as today’s 1-2-3.
Our expert for Stage 3 @Dani_Rowe_MBE also believes that today is another day for the GOAT @marianne_vos 💛💚 but thinks she'll be challenged by sprint star and @RondeVlaanderen winner @LotteKopecky 🇧🇪 and @RoubaixFemmes solo victor @ElisaLongoB 🇮🇹 #TDFF #TDFFdata pic.twitter.com/TBKsh8TQpy
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 26, 2022
We’re 10 minutes away from the riders rolling out from Reims.
Will Vos be similarly jubilant at the finish line in Épernay this afternoon?
"It is the 𝐆reatest 𝐎f 𝐀ll 𝐓ime!" 🐐
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 25, 2022
Look how much it means to Marianne Vos - who storms to a stage victory (and the yellow jersey!) at the Tour de France Femmes 🙌#TDFF | @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/kHwmKlyQCW
Frain later apologised for her part in the incident on Twitter.
She said: “After working hard to come back to the peloton in the convoy and with my teammate, the speed we rejoined the pack would have matched their pace. Unfortunately as I came off the wheel I was unaware [of] riders on the road from another crash. My teammate went to the left off the road but I didn’t have the opportunity to do the same given I didn’t see it. This meant I crashed overtop of the rider on the ground … I did my best to avoid it but I had nowhere I could go.
“Naturally this was never the intention and I am sorry for those involved. I am sore as well, and will monitor how I feel. I’m lucky I could get back on my bike.”
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Yesterday’s stage was marred by a series of ugly crashes.
The biggest involved Marta Cavalli, of the FDJ-Suez Futuroscope team, and winner of the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge this year, was caught up in an absolutely hideous incident where she slowed to avoid a three-rider crash in front of her.
Unfortunately, the fast-moving Nicole Frain behind had failed to pick up the danger and absolutely clattered the Italian, sending her somersaulting over and landing on her back. Frain, the Australian national champion of the Parkhotel Valkenburg team, smashed into the floored bikes and torpedoed off her own, several bike-lengths down the road.
Fairly astonishingly, Cavalli got back on and continued, but was later withdrawn from the race with a concussion. Frain also remounted and finished the stage 3min 22sec behind Vos.
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Sad news to arrive to this morning – Laura Kenny is more renowned for her track exploits but was also the British National Road Race Championships winner in 2014, than win coming in a run of three podium slots.
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Laura Kenny, Britain’s five-time Olympic gold medallist, has revealed she contemplated walking away from cycling at the start of this year after a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy left her at “breaking point”.
Kenny said in April that she had miscarried at nine weeks in November and had a fallopian tube removed in January due to an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb. The 30-year-old won the madison at last year’s Tokyo Games, where her husband, Jason, became Britain’s most decorated Olympian, with seven golds in cycling.
“I felt like nothing was going our way at all,” said Kenny. “January was a tipping point, I was at breaking point. Without Jason, I think I’d have just canned everything and just gone, ‘You know what, I can’t even cope with doing any of this [cycling]’. But I grabbed for my safety blanket and decided I needed to ride my bike again. That’s what I’ve done for the last 13 years. It feels like a safe place.”
Full story here, and no end of thoughts with the Kennys.
Un parcours vallonné au menu de jour qui devrait plaire aux meilleures puncheuses du peloton ! 💥
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 26, 2022
A hilly race is on the programme which should be in the sights of the best puncheurs! 💥#TDFF pic.twitter.com/vt87l1indK
Jeremy Whittle's stage two report
The evergreen Marianne Vos, a multiple world champion, crowned her illustrious career by taking her first yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes after emphatically winning stage two of the week-long race in Provins.
Vos, who was beaten to the line on the Champs Élysées in the opening stage by Lorena Wiebes on Sunday, made no mistake on the uphill sprint into the medieval town. “We were aiming to take a stage win and we knew that was going to be hard but we wanted to take the opportunity when it came,” she said.
The 35-year-old, winner of the first La Course, the one-day precursor to the revived Tour de France Femmes, has been one of the influential figures campaigning for its rebirth.
“When nine years ago we were talking with ASO [Amaury Sport Organisation] about an opportunity to get a race, it went really fast to get La Course going,” Vos recalled. “When we raced La Course for the first time on the Champs Élysées, it felt like a milestone. Now to be here for a real Tour de France, with all the emotion of a stage race, that’s another milestone.”
Standings after stage two
General classification
1 Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) 5hr 7mins 46secs
2 Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) +0:10sec
3 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) +0:12
4 Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) +0:18
5 Maike Van Der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo) +0:28
6 Lorena Wiebes (DSM) +0:35
7 Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) +0:41
8 Rachaele Barbieri (Liv Racing Xstra) +0:45
9 Julie De Wilde (Plantur-Pura) +0:45
10 Demi Vollering (SD Worx) +0:45
Points
1 Vos 120pts
2 Wiebes 104
3 Kopecky 85
Climber
1 Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg) 2pts
2 Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg) 1
3 Anne Dorthe Ysland (Uno-X Pro Cycling) 1
4 Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) 1
Team
1 Canyon-SRAM 15hr 25min 9secs
2 Jumbo-Visma +0:05sec
3 Trek-Segafredo +0:19
Preamble
Greetings. Today marks the third instalment of eight in this year’s historic event. It’s a 133.6km jaunt from Reims to Éperney, starting roughly that distance north-east of the French capital. After a couple of days on the flat, today’s profile: “hilly”, according to organisers. It features a few category four impediments and a category three, Côte de Mutigny, a 0.77km climb at 13.9%. The peak of that arrives 16km from the finish.
With more hills on the way tomorrow, expect a shake-up in the top 10, and the 45 seconds currently separating yellow jersey from 10th place to become a bit more of a gulf. Can Marianne Vos hang on to the top spot? Let’s find out.
Riders roll at 11.50am BST, with the stage proper due to begin at noon.
