OFFICIAL Stage 1 Results: Laura Tomasi ABANDONS!
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Tour de France Femmes Gamers!
STAGE Grade: A-
I rate today’s stage a B+.
Switzerland is a beautiful place to have a bike race, I enjoyed today’s route. The sprint was great, won by the fastest woman in the peloton. Demi Vollering’s racing was a little surprising, otherwise it was just an okay kind of stage race.
Route: 4/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 5/5 Surprises: 2/5
Lorena Wiebes against everyone. That was the gist of today’s stage. The course designer had done their best to make this stage unpredictable, but that category 4 climb at the end was never enough to withstand the power of sprinters like Wiebes, or Marianne Vos. They were the favorites for today’s stage and Wiebes a little more than Vos.
The climb is 2.6 km at 4.6%, but it’s really the 1 km at 7.1% that makes it a climb. And that’s too short to stop someone like Wiebes. Sprinters like her have so much power, she can drop everyone on that climb as if it’s a bunch sprint.
And that’s what she did.
Wiebes against everyone. They all tried to drop her, all day. Including, for reasons completely unclear to me, the general classification favorite Demi Vollering. At the very first climb, the breakaway still safely in the distance, Vollering accelerated out of the peloton. She seemed to respond to a legitimate attack from Amanda Spratt, who eventually would reach the breakaway. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot had to react — what if Vollering managed to bridge to the breakaway? Everyone else just had to suffer. Including Wiebes, including Vollering’s teammates: Marie le Net, Amber Kraak, Franziska Koch. I’m not sure about le Net, but Kraak and Koch are crack domestiques. Cycling is a team sport: why was Vollering hurting her teammates?
Then in the final, she did it again. Attacked, hard, and only a few riders could follow. Including Wiebes, who then beat her in the sprint.
Here’s the only thing I can think of: Vollering has said this week that every second counts. She doesn’t want to lose the Tour by four seconds like in 2024. Never mind that she lost by minutes in 2025. She wants to gain every second she can. Which she did: she finished third. Four bonus seconds, her rivals got zero.
Is four seconds worth hurting your teammates? I’ve seen Vollering take good care of her teammates and this isn’t it. But I’ve also seen Vollering make bad mistakes.
Speaking of riders who made big announcements before the Tour: I read the headline “With Paris-Roubaix champion Alison Jackson on board, ambitious St Michel squad aim high at the Tour de France Femmes” earlier this week. Well, then, we have our focus team: St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93.
There are two American riders on the small French outfit. Jackson is by far the most experienced rider; she has eleven wins, including a stage in the Vuelta a España Femenina. Heidi Franz from Washington has three, French rider India Grangier has three — including the overall Volta a Portugal Femenina. Everyone else has zero.
Today was one of the stages where St Michel had to be in the front all day. But Jackson (and everyone else) missed the boat today. After the first breakaway riders had made their gap, Jackson tried — too late. The gap was already thirty seconds and the peloton had decided that was the breakaway. Two kilometers later, fellow Canadian Kiara Lylyk tried as well. Two Canadians in a chase, that could work. But Lylyk isn’t strong enough, she couldn’t even catch Jackson.
For five kilometers, the two chased each other. Jackson wasn’t getting closer to the breakaway; Lylyk wasn’t getting closer to Jackson. Only the peloton was getting what they wanted: their gap to the breakaway kept increasing.
This had all the hallmarks of a classic chasse patate; a stupid chase. Jackson finally agreed, sat up and let Lylyk join her. But all that did was increase their gap to the breakaway. Jackson still wanted to join the front, so she left Lylyk again. For another 40 km Jackson chased solo, but she never made it. The peloton caught her, just before the intermediate sprint in Villeneuve. She finished 117th, eleven minutes down in a grupetto with the two American St Michel riders. Koch was in that group, too. Having thoughts about Vollering, no doubt.
Émilie Morier was 19th, our best rider today. She was literally the best of the rest: Vollering’s acceleration towards the finish had split the peloton. All the cracks were in the first group; Morier was the first of a long procession of defeated riders. Defeated, but 19th is all right!
Watch the final kilometer HERE
Watch NBC Sports’ Extended highlights HERE
Read the TNT Sports report HERE
Laura Tomasi was involved in a crash with four other riders. One of those riders, Alison Avoine, continued but finished outside the time limit. Tomasi was examined by the medical staff and looked shaken and confused. They were looking at her helmet, then the TV coverage moved on. Tomasi abandoned, maybe the concussion protocol ruled her out. If that's true, then I'm glad.
Her abandon hurts Team Cameron. They used the unorthodox tactic of selecting the eighteen riders last in the alphabetical order of the peloton. Tomasi was the eighteen rider on that list. It's hard to tell if Tomasi's abandon makes any difference for Team Cameron, their performance depends on an alignment of the stars.
Team Ansel pick up the Tour de France Femmes where they left off. Most points from the stage, most points from classifications, most points overall, most riders in the Top-25 (seven). Team Tadej were second, Team Katja third. Team Amalia finished fourth still in contention; Team Cameron and Team Wesley finished fifth and sixth.
Lorena Wiebes came to the Tour de France Femmes for the same reason she came to the Giro d’Italia Women: to win every stage in the first half. She was disqualified from the Giro. That’s what it takes to defeat her. She will win stage 2: it is classified as a sprint stage (a five-kilometer sprint zone). There are five categorized climbs; normally speaking, a breakaway could have a chance, or Demi Vollering could go crazy on those climbs again, hurting everyone in sight. But after Wiebes’ demolition of everyone today — Wiebes against everyone, it will be Wiebes again on Sunday.
Standings after stage 1:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
212 |
|
2 |
Team Tadej* |
196 |
|
3 |
Team Katja* |
166 |
|
4 |
Team Amalia* |
133 |
|
5 |
Team Cameron* |
98 |
|
6 |
Team Wesley* |
7 |
Standings after stage 1 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
|
1 |
Team Charlotte |
231 |
|
2 |
Team Amelia |
219 |
|
3 |
Team Erin |
213 |
|
4 |
Team Ansel* |
212 |
|
5 |
Team Sam |
210 |
|
6 |
Team Kent |
207 |
|
7 |
Team Cameron |
202 |
|
8 |
Team Karin |
201 |
|
9 |
Team Lichterman |
200 |
|
10 |
Team Kate |
198 |
|
11 |
Team Tadej* |
196 |
|
12 |
Team Kari |
195 |
|
13 |
Team Catherine |
191 |
|
14 |
Team Laurens |
190 |
|
15 |
Team Doug |
187 |
|
16 |
Team Ellie |
183 |
|
17 |
Team Wesley |
181 |
|
18 |
Team Jake |
176 |
|
19 |
Team Valerie |
175 |
|
20 |
Team Grace |
171 |
|
21 |
Team Corsa |
168 |
|
Team Melanie |
168 |
|
|
23 |
Team Katja* |
166 |
|
Team Allie |
166 |
|
|
25 |
Team Adam |
163 |
|
26 |
Team Julie |
161 |
|
27 |
Team Allison |
155 |
|
28 |
Team Andrew |
146 |
|
29 |
Team Suzanne |
141 |
|
30 |
Team Amalia* |
133 |
|
31 |
Team Cameron* |
98 |
|
32 |
Team Ellen |
97 |
|
33 |
Team Wesley* |
7 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 1:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
RED JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
97 |
28 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
36 |
133 |
0 |
133 |
|
Team Ansel* |
152 |
47 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
60 |
212 |
0 |
212 |
|
Team Cameron* |
72 |
18 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
26 |
98 |
0 |
98 |
|
Team Katja* |
126 |
32 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
40 |
166 |
0 |
166 |
|
Team Tadej* |
137 |
46 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
59 |
196 |
0 |
196 |
|
Team Wesley* |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 1 (including dogs and adults):
|
110 |
40 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
53 |
163 |
0 |
163 |
|
|
Team Allie |
133 |
25 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
33 |
166 |
0 |
166 |
|
Team Allison |
94 |
48 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
61 |
155 |
0 |
155 |
|
Team Amalia* |
97 |
28 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
36 |
133 |
0 |
133 |
|
Team Amelia |
164 |
42 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
55 |
219 |
0 |
219 |
|
Team Andrew |
94 |
39 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
52 |
146 |
0 |
146 |
|
Team Ansel* |
152 |
47 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
60 |
212 |
0 |
212 |
|
Team Cameron |
140 |
49 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
62 |
202 |
0 |
202 |
|
Team Cameron* |
72 |
18 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
26 |
98 |
0 |
98 |
|
Team Catherine |
128 |
50 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
63 |
191 |
0 |
191 |
|
Team Charlotte |
165 |
53 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
66 |
231 |
0 |
231 |
|
Team Corsa |
129 |
31 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
39 |
168 |
0 |
168 |
|
Team Doug |
134 |
40 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
53 |
187 |
0 |
187 |
|
Team Ellen |
78 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
97 |
0 |
97 |
|
Team Ellie |
137 |
38 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
46 |
183 |
0 |
183 |
|
Team Erin |
171 |
36 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
42 |
213 |
0 |
213 |
|
Team Grace |
126 |
37 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
45 |
171 |
0 |
171 |
|
Team Jake |
110 |
53 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
66 |
176 |
0 |
176 |
|
Team Julie |
120 |
33 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
41 |
161 |
0 |
161 |
|
Team Kari |
140 |
42 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
55 |
195 |
0 |
195 |
|
Team Karin |
183 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
201 |
0 |
201 |
|
Team Kate |
158 |
34 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
40 |
198 |
0 |
198 |
|
Team Katja* |
126 |
32 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
40 |
166 |
0 |
166 |
|
Team Kent |
152 |
42 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
55 |
207 |
0 |
207 |
|
Team Laurens |
128 |
49 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
62 |
190 |
0 |
190 |
|
Team Lichterman |
140 |
47 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
60 |
200 |
0 |
200 |
|
Team Melanie |
106 |
49 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
62 |
168 |
0 |
168 |
|
Team Sam |
153 |
44 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
57 |
210 |
0 |
210 |
|
Team Suzanne |
101 |
32 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
40 |
141 |
0 |
141 |
|
Team Tadej* |
137 |
46 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
59 |
196 |
0 |
196 |
|
Team Valerie |
113 |
49 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
62 |
175 |
0 |
175 |
|
Team Wesley |
127 |
41 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
54 |
181 |
0 |
181 |
|
Team Wesley* |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
Vive le Tour Femmes!
-Laurens.