PROVINS, France: Dutch rider Marianne Vos captured the yellow jersey at the women’s Tour de France on Monday as she raced a three-way sprint to win the second leg from Mex to Provins.
Vos of Team Jumbo-Visma defeated Sylvia Persico and Katarzina Niviadoma to claim the jersey from compatriot Lorena Vibes, who finished 29 seconds behind in sixth.
“It hasn’t changed, it’s a very wonderful day,” said Vos, who finished second behind Viebes in Sunday’s opening leg on the Champs-Elysees.
Alyssa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo, winner of Paris-Roubaix and the definitive contender for the yellow jersey in France, finished fourth two seconds into the first leg.
Less fortunate was her Italian compatriot Marta Cavalli, this year’s winner of Amstel Gold and Fleche-Wallone and a potential winner of the overall title here.
The 24-year-old was taken to hospital after suffering a head injury in one of three horrific accidents over the past 30 km, where crosswinds and gusts of up to 45 km/h made riders worried about the possibility of a break. peloton
Upon arrival in Provins, team manager Stephane Delcourt said: “We don’t have much news from Marta, she is suffering from a head injury.”
“We keep in touch with the doctor. He has been sent to the hospital for CT scan as a priority.”
The FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope rider was already on the ground when she was hit by Australian champion Nicole Frain, who was taking off without braking.
Cavalli, who finished runner-up at this year’s Giro d’Italia, got back on his bike but failed to finish the podium with the team and was pulled out and sent to the hospital.
“He got a big blow. We didn’t want to take any risks,” Delcourt said.
“She wanted to go ahead but the team said no. We don’t want to play with the lives of the runners.
“We’re very concerned. You’ve seen an amazing crash and how dangerous our sport is. We have to be really careful. I’m very concerned about the safety of our riders.”
It was a bad day for FDJ as Danish rider Cecily Utrup Ludwig, his other potential challenger, got into another crash and lost by more than a minute to Vos, Longo Borghini and Nuyadoma.
In addition to Cavalli, another Italian Gaia Masetti also left German Laura Susemilch, who is undergoing tests in hospital for possible fractures, according to her Plantur-Pura team.
French rider Mayva Squiban finished the podium, but upon arrival “couldn’t walk”, according to his team, Stade Rochelles, and “took an X-ray.”
For Vos, 35, one of cycling’s great names with three World Road Championships and Olympic track gold, this yellow jersey has a sense of unfinished business.
He won the first edition of La Course in 2014 on the Champs-lysées, the last day of the men’s Tour de France, a race he helped launch.
As a child he pressured his parents to take him to see him on tour.
“We were going to the Alpe d’Huez, to finish the sprint, to Pau,” he said again at the start at Mex on Monday. “That’s how we spent our summer vacations driving the course in our camping van.”
Vos now leads a 10-second lead over Walker rider Persico in the general classification, two seconds ahead with Canyon-SRAM’s Niviadoma.
Tuesday’s stage three should also suit sprinters, with a 133.6km ride through the champagne field from Reims to Epernay. The race ends in Paris on Sunday.