The rain was not right for the yellow jersey. The Belgian Lotte Kopecky, only preceded by the German Liane Lippert despite a puncture in the last meters of the second stage on Monday in Mauriac, consolidated her place at the top of the classification of the Women’s Tour.
Victorious in the initial stage on Sunday in Clermont-Ferrand, the Belgian champion confirmed her good form. In a sprint involving around twenty runners, she was only overcome in the last meters by Lippert who signed her second success of the season after her title of German champion at the end of June.
Italian Silvia Perisco completed the podium.
“It was a very intense day from the start and in the end chaotic where I was well placed by my team”, commented Lippert, “relieved to have avoided falls”.
As an excellent specialist on the track, Kopecky demonstrated his mastery, driving wonderfully on a road surface transformed into an ice rink in the last hour of the race. And this, despite a puncture in the final straight.
“I lacked grip in the last few metres. I understood why when I discovered after the line that my rear wheel was flat,” she explained.
You had to be skilful to stay on the bike in the final bends of a chaotic end of the race, marked by numerous falls, in particular that, frightening four kilometers from the finish, of Eva van Agt, then leading the race.
Escaped 40 kilometers from the line with her compatriots Yara Kastelijn and Anouska Koster, the Jumbo rider missed a downhill turn to violently hit a metal barrier. Conscious, she was taken care of by a medical team who were reassuring.
This fall was the most spectacular of a series of other bowls without gravity but which forced the runners to avoid taking too many risks.
Labous and Muzic in concert
Fortunately, the peloton was no longer very thick when it came to the entrance to Mauriac, after a stage made difficult by six listed difficulties, in particular the long Côte des Plaines (2nd category).
An ascent during which the Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten found herself on the ground. The defending champion and favorite to succeed her, however, quickly recovered to finally rank 9th in Mauriac, not far from her main rival for the final classification, her compatriot Demi Vollering (7th).
The other contenders for a good final classification were not tricked either.
In difficulty on Monday during the first stage, Juliette Labous finished with the best in 17th position. Fourth in the Tour last year and recent second in the Giro d’Italia Donne (won by Van Vleuten), the Frenchwoman is still about forty seconds behind her competitors for a final podium.
The best Frenchwoman remains the young Evita Muzic (24 years old). The FDJ runner, already up front on Monday, was again amazing, finishing in a nice 15th place after being very offensive throughout the day.
Tuesday, the sprinters could be at the party on a completely flat course in its final part and connecting Collonges-la-Rouge in Corrèze to Montignac-Lascaux in Dordogne in a 147.2 kilometer long stage.