Tour de France Femmes 2023: Heartbreak for Julie Van de Velde as Lorena Wiebes wins Stage 3

ByImogen Ainsworth

Updated 25/07/2023 at 17:23 GMT

Lotte Kopecky tightened her grip on yellow – at least until the mountains arrive – with four more bonus seconds when finishing third on Stage 3. But the day was about her SD Worx team-mate Lorena Wiebes, who claimed her first win of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes with a typically impressive sprint. Marianne Vos took her increasingly familiar second spot behind the explosive Wiebes.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) sprinted to victory on Stage 3 at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes as Julie Van de Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck) came within 500 metres of a famous upset.

Van de Velde attacked on the Cote des Andrieux with 59km remaining of Tuesday's run to Montignac-Lascaux and soon built a lead of over two minutes.

The peloton slowly began to reel the Belgian in but with 3km remaining she still had over half a minute on the bunch.

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Wiebes was not to be denied though. After finishing second on the opening stage and being distanced on Monday, her SD Worx team-mates worked to ensure there would be a bunch sprint. And when it arrived, she did the rest.

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) finished second with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) picking up four bonus seconds in third to extend her lead in the yellow jersey.

Early in the stage Kathrin Hammes (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) broke free from the peloton and she was the first to cross the summit of the first three categorised climbs of Cote du Peyroux, Cote du Peratel, and Cote de L'Escurotte.

Wiebes 'true to form' wins Stage 3 at Tour de France Femmes

After their impressive rides on stage two the day before, Anouska Koster (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Queen of the Mountains jersey wearer Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) remained key figures on the climbs and crossed second and third on Cote du Peyroux to earn more Queen of the Mountains points.

Flurrying attacks from the peloton were all short-lived before a second attempt from Coryn Labecki (Team Jumbo-Visma) saw her break free from the bunch to go solo. As Hammes reached the summit of Cote de L'Escurotte, a determined Labecki continued on her own behind, and she would take second. Hammes was then brought back into the peloton with 82km remaining.

With 77km to go Alice Maria Arzuffi (CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling) went on the attack but was quickly closed down by Paula Patino (Movistar Team), Elena Cecchini (SD Worx), Alena Amialiusik (UAE Team ADQ), Lucinda Brand (Lidl - Trek), and Susanne Andersen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), to form a front group.

They were brought back quickly and Lauretta Hanson (Lidl - Trek) was the next to attack followed by a quick reaction from Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma), but neither of them were able to create any distance. For a while, the peloton remained together again and Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) worked hard on the front to pull them forward.

At the 59km to go mark, Van de Velde made her move as the next climb, Cote des Andrieux, loomed nearer.

Julie Van De Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck)

Image credit: Getty Images

The Belgian was the first to reach the summit after her attack a kilometre before and had gained a lead of 40 seconds when she crossed to take the QoM points. Koster once again took more QoM points as she was the first of the peloton to reach the top.

Soon after, even more QoM points were up for grabs and Van de Velde continued in pursuit of the polka dot jersey as she was the first across Cote de Saint-Robert, now with a 20-second time advantage on the bunch behind. Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) took second and at the same time Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) launched an attack with Henderson hot on her heels.

After a few kilometres they were caught but Van de Velde remained solo, and her time gap increased to over a minute before it jumped to over two minutes as her time at the front of the race continued.

With 30km left, there was a crash in the peloton which took down Labecki and Elena Cecchini (SD Worx). Both returned to their bikes to continue the race, however, at the end of the stage, Cecchini’s teammate Reusser indicated that the Italian may have been in some discomfort despite her valiant efforts to support the team in the kilometres that remained.

Van de Velde would go on to take the intermediate sprint points at Badefols-d'Ans with a lead of around 1’30” and stage winner Wiebes was second, but still a considerable time behind the front of the race. After attacks from Henderson and Lizzie Deignan (Lidl - Trek), Canyon//SRAM Racing moved to the front of the peloton and continued to up the speed.

After the 20km to go mark Van de Velde’s lead started to shrink as the peloton drew closer and dropped from over a minute to around 30 seconds with 13km of the stage left. Team dsm-firmenich were putting the work in at the front for their sprinter Charlotte Kool and were a key engine in eventually closing the gap to Van de Velde.

Despite this, Van de Velde pushed on and even increased her lead, such was her effort to remain in contention for the stage win in a ride that saw her awarded the most combative rider prize. Even with 3km remaining the Belgian still had a time gap of 36”, but this dropped considerably as the Flamme Rogue drew ever closer. By the time she reached the 1km to go mark the peloton were in sight and on the hunt for the leader and her nine-second time advantage.

She retained her lead position past the 600-metre mark, but as the pain kicked in for Van de Velde so did the peloton that she had held off for over 50 kilometres. She was heartbreakingly consumed by the stage win-hungry peloton with a few hundred metres to the finish line.

Kopecky’s yellow jersey stood out at the centre of the bunch as she prepared to lead out team-mate Wiebes, and formidable sprinter Vos also saw a chance as the finish line rapidly approached. Team dsm-firmenich’s sprint hopes vanished quickly as Kool found herself boxed in. She would eventually finish seventh.

As Kopecky moved aside she remained in contention for the stage win herself but Wiebes brought the extra power from behind and outsprinted Vos in the process to take her third Tour de France stage win. Vos narrowly took second while Kopecky retained her yellow jersey with third place.

Wiebes praises yellow jersey leadout from Kopecky

SD Worx’s general classification pursuit gained an extra six seconds of time advantage over Monday’s stage winner Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) who sits in second, 55 seconds behind Kopecky. Last year’s GC winner Van Vleuten has moved from sixth to eighth but remains 1’05” down on the yellow jersey. Van de Velde earned the hearts of many as well as the Queen of the Mountains jersey which she will wear for stage four.

Cédrine Kerbaol (CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling) kept hold of her young rider jersey while Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step) will continue to wear the green points jersey on behalf of Kopecky.

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