There was a sense of impending doom in the air at the start of stage two of the women’s Tour de France. The air was thick, muggy and grey clouds lingered ominously in the sky above. Rumours swirled around the team buses about the potential of crosswinds wreaking havoc. Ronny Lauke, team manager at Canyon//SRAM described the day as a “trap.” He said that the flat parcours indicated an easy sprint stage, but the narrow, twisty roads and their poor conditions could throw up surprises.
Lauke, it transpired, was on the money with his prediction. Stage two was one of complete and utter chaos. “It was hectic from the start, everyone was nervous,” said Anna Henderson of Jumbo-Visma after the stage. “Riders need to start respecting each other, being willing to put each other on the floor to move up a few places is a bit sh*t, to be honest.”
It was on the local laps that the drama really began. The first crash came with around 30 kilometres of the stage remaining and it was the trigger of a series of serious pile-ups. One after the other they came, as more and more riders hauled themselves out of the ditches in the suburbs of Provins, cradled collarbones and shouted for spare bikes.
The French team FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope were the worst affected as both their leaders, Cecile Uttrup Ludwig and Marta Cavalli, were unable to navigate through the pandemonium of broken bikes, bodies and race vehicles that littered the road. Today had serious GC implications and many dreams of yellow were shattered. Riders spoke of not knowing where their teammates were as groups were scattered across the finish circuit, riders scrambling everywhere to regain position.
But among all the havoc, turmoil and disarray, there was one thing about today’s stage that restored a sense of order to the world of women’s cycling, and that was Marianne Vos crossing the finish line in first place.
Image: A.S.O./Fabien Boukla
The Dutch rider escaped the nervous bunch by following the attack of Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) which was launched with just under 20km of the race remaining. “Elisa went and apparently that was the time to go,” she said after the stage, emotional and shocked by her historic win.
Images that emerged after the stage of Vos wearing the yellow jersey almost look like something we have seen before. It looks natural, normal and to be expected. She has been the greatest cyclist in the women’s peloton for well over a decade, and the best rider in…