For Marianne Vos, the first stage of the Tour de France Femme started with a sprint behind Charlotte Coull, who had to finish in fifth place after her legs “exploded.”

Vimaris A Bikes was steering two-time Tour stage winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Works Pro Time), who was looking to join the race for the win. Wiebes suffered an unfortunate mechanical problem with 500m to go that dropped her out of contention for the win, but Vos was not in the position she wanted at the time.

Wiebes, the favorite to win, stopped running without a rear derailleur or chain, and Charlotte Kuhl (DSM-Filmenig Post NL) jumped out for the win and the yellow jersey #1.

“We were a little too far off, she moved up but then her legs exploded and she wasn't strong enough.

“I'm not happy with fifth, but it's a group sprint and anything can happen. I dropped back a little too far in the last kilometer,” she said. I still did everything I could, but Kool was the fastest today.” [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]