Tokyo Olympic Games time trial silver medalist Marlen Reusser took SD Worx first victory of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes on Wednesday, soloing 23 km to the win in Bar-Sur-Aube. It was Reusser’s first triumph of the season. Marianne Vos kept safe in yellow. Spanish champion Mavi Garcia had a stone cold bummer.
You can watch the 2022 Tour de France Femmes at FloBikes.
The Course
There were cobbles, climbs and cobbled climbs for Wednesday’s fare. Three of the five climbs were cobbled as the race headed from Troyes to Bar-Sur-Aube.
#TDFF – 📏 126,8 km // 1415 altitude metres
Gravel day! With 13 km of gravel sectors, this could be the day some GC favourites lose the Tour. Most climbs are followed by a gravel sector, which will make it nervous in the bunch. Add some narrow roads and you know it’ll be hectic. pic.twitter.com/JsmV2XDUse
— Domestique (@Domestique___) July 27, 2022
There were several unsuccessful bids to breakaway. One that found some traction contained Belgian Valerie Demey and French rider Coralie Demay. The first cobbled climb, Cat. 3 Côte de Celles-sur-Ource, popped Demey off the back but Demay forged on with Laura Asencio.
The next sector of cobbles was on the plateau of Côte du Val des Clos. Demay dropped Asencio and SD Worx toiled at the front of the streamlined peloton.
Chemin Blanc du Plateau de Blu was a 4.4-km uncategorized cobbled climb that started with 38 km to go. SD Worx brought Demay back.
When Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig punctured, FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope went to the front of the peloton and slowed things down. Third place Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland/Canyon-SRAM) also flatted, prompting Trek-Segafredo to drive the field, but the Pole returned.
Côte de Maître Jean saw a group about 50 strong tip over. Twenty-eight kilometres remained. SD Worx put Marlen Reusser up the road on the penultimate climb, Côte de Vitry.
An odd crash occured when Mavi Garcia punctured and a teammate stopped to offer her bike. Elizabeth Manly of BikeExchange tried to squeeze through them and hit the deck.
Garcia’s day got weirder when she touched her own team car with the rear wheel and went down hard. She dropped from 6th to 11th on the day.
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 27, 2022
You’ll struggle to find someone who’s having a worse day that Mavi García
Multiple punctures and now…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…