Lorena Wiebes wins opening stage, takes yellow jersey

Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes won the opening stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes on Saturday, August 1, seizing the first yellow jersey with a powerful sprint on an uphill finish in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 27-year-old from Team SD Worx-Protime completed the 137-kilometer (85.5-mile) out-and-back route in 3 hours, 29 minutes, and 11 seconds, finishing a bike length ahead of Kim Le Court-Pienaar of AG Insurance-Soudal Team. Demi Vollering of FDJ United-SUEZ, the 2023 champion, rounded out the podium in third place.

The stage, which began and ended in Lausanne on Swiss National Day, featured a challenging finale on the Côte Saint-François, a 2.6-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 4.6 percent. This terrain was expected to favor punchier riders over a pure sprinter like Wiebes. In the final kilometer, Vollering launched a significant attack, while last year's champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, also pushed the pace at the front. Wiebes managed to stay with the reduced group of approximately 20 riders and launched her own sprint with 200 meters remaining to secure the victory.

After the win, Wiebes expressed surprise and gratitude, stating she had some doubts about the...