When Parkhotel-Valkenburg’s Femke Markus won the QOM sprint at the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes she punched the air in victory. The 25-year-old had won just two measly points in the sprint. She’d worked for them, getting in a three-woman break which was given leeway of around 30 seconds by the peloton. The trio began to get reeled in as the QOM point approached – placed just a few metres after Arc de Triomphe, more of a very slight drag than a mountain – but Markus launched a final, late sprint and just held off the chasing pack.
Her salute to the sky as she crossed the line looked unusual and out of place – it was the middle of a 80km stage and Markus hadn’t won. In the men’s Tour de France, we’re used to seeing KOM points casually swept up and the polka dot jersey often isn’t a jersey which is targeted by teams.
But for Markus, winning the QOM sprint meant she would wear the polka dot jersey for at least one day in the Tour de France Femmes. As a young rider from one of the smallest teams in the race, it’s almost certain she won’t take the jersey home at the end of the race when the big climbers come to the fore. But to hold it for even a stage is something to celebrate. She grinned from ear to ear on the podium, “it’s special and unbelievable,” she said after the stage.
Markus’ reaction to her QOM sprint win was symbolic of what the Tour de France Femmes means to the women’s peloton, and how special it is for them to finally get a chance to compete in the iconic event.
Before the race, Team BikeExchange’s Amanda Spratt came down from the podium after the team presentation with tears in her eyes. “Sorry, I was getting emotional up there,” she said to press afterwards. British rider Joscelin Lowden (Team Uno X) shared a similar sentiment.
“I think when you’re in it, you have to remember to sort of take a step back and have a look, see what we’re doing and what it means to not only to us as riders but for the younger generations coming through the bike riders back home watching, male and female, it’s a really big thing,” she said.
Riders young and old were in awe of the Tour de France circus today. Even the likes of Kasia Niewiadoma, having experienced so many races with over ten years experience in the peloton, found the opening stage of the race surreal. “It’s nice to feel like we’re finally doing it,” she said before the stage. “It’s nice that we don’t have to wait any longer…