History was made Friday in Amos, Que., as the very first women’s edition of the Tour de l’Abitibi Glencore rolled out with a 91.5-km stage to Val-d’Or. Norway’s Marte Dolven who claimed the honour of winning the inaugural stage. She sprinted to victory and pulled on the brown leader’s jersey.
Dolven edged out Abigael Fortier of Équipe du Québec, with Clémence Cousineau of Team Canada grabbing third after a largely controlled day in the bunch. The race saw several attempts to escape. Most notably from Alexandra Fangeat of the U.S.-based Liftow–KW Cycling Academy, who carved out a maximum gap of 33 seconds before being reeled back in.
The secondary classifications took shape as well. France’s Zoé Bihan earned the blue jersey as the best young rider. Her teammate Justine Baud claimed the polka dot jersey for best climber. Cousineau also took the orange jersey as points leader.
Friday marked a milestone not just for the race, but for women’s cycling in Canada. “We hope this inspires other events and signals a new era for women’s racing,” Tour president, Mélanie Rocher said.
After the race, Fortier said, “I couldn’t be happier. It’s an honour to be on the very first podium.”
Stage 2, on Saturday, is a 98.6-km race from Senneterre to Val-d’Or.
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