It’s been a good few days for the Canadians at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes. The race is an under-23 stage race and often regarded as the little sibling of the Tour de France. The race of the future is notable as in the past, many top riders won it — such as Tadej Pogačar or Greg LeMond — before winning the Tour de France.
Although the Tour de l’Avenir for the men has been around since 1961, a women’s version is quite new — 2023 was the first edition.
Stage 3 brought another tough day at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, ending in a sprint after 136 km to Vitry-en-Charollais. Early attacks, including a seven-rider move with Fleur Moors and Maud Oudeman, were tightly controlled by the peloton. A solo effort from France’s Juliette Bego gained two minutes, but she was eventually reeled in. The stage ended in a chaotic sprint marred by a crash, but Dutch rider Scarlett Souren avoided trouble and claimed the win ahead of Federica Venturelli and Marie Schreiber.
Isabella Holmgren finished safely in the bunch and retained the overall lead. Kiara Lylyk had a super race, finishing 9th. She had a less-than-ideal debut Tour de France Femmes a month ago — when she crashed into a police moto that came out of nowhere. But she’s having a great time at the Tour de l’Avenir.
“Honestly just being a part of this group is so special. I haven’t been with a group that works so well together. We are all in for Bella, but also all in for everyone to get their shot. I was a bit disappointed that I boxed myself in the sprint after they gave everything for me, but still happy to give it a go,” she said.
Isabella Holmgren took a fine win at the uphill prologue to take command of the race on Saturday, smashing her next competitor by 16 seconds. Alexandra Volstad had a solid Stage 1 as well, finishing 8th in the bunch sprint.
There are three stages remaining — including a final day with a double stage. The last one being a TT — once again uphill, Montvalezan › La Rosière (10.3 km).
The men’s Tour de l’Avenir is also going on, with Luke Valenti the top Canadian in 46th.
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