The 27-year-old soloed ahead of the Oranje sprinters Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) and Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich). Nobody was able to follow an attack at the only mountain classification of the day around ten kilometres before the finish, the last kilometres to the finish were mostly downhill. The best German on the 123.8 kilometres with start and finish in Clermont-Ferrand was the German champion Liane Lippert (Movistar) in eleventh place.
Kopecky also secured the polka dot jersey with her attack shortly before the mountain classification, and the green jersey also belongs to her after the first day. Best young rider and therefore in white from tomorrow is Cedrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit - WNT).
Hardly anything happened until 40 kilometres before the finish, the few attacks were all short-lived and remained meaningless. The Polish rider Marta Lach from the German team Ceratizit - WNT was then the first to open up a somewhat larger lead. However, she was also unable to break the minute mark and was caught again at the start of the more difficult part of the day.
Serious crash shortly after the start
Barely 25 kilometres had been ridden when the Spaniard Mireia Benito suffered serious injuries after a crash and had to abandon the race. The 26-year-old from Team AG Insurance went off the road and crashed into a ditch. The Tour doctors were on the scene immediately and put a neck brace on Benito before she was taken away by ambulance. "She is conscious and on her way to hospital," her team announced shortly afterwards. The exact extent of the injuries was initially unknown.
The second edition of the cycling tour leads over eight stages through the south-west of France and ends next Sunday in Pau. Before its comeback, the previous version of the Women's Tour was held from 1984 to 2009. The Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten won in 2022.
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