The rain came to spoil the party at the end of the second stage of the women’s Tour de France on Monday. The downpours that fell on the course with about fifteen kilometers to go in the 152 kilometer stage, disputed between Clermont-Ferrand and Mauriac, made the road slippery, which caused the fall of some runners.
For a second day in a row, it was a national champion who raised her arms at the finish line. German Liane Lippert (Movistar) sprinted ahead of yesterday’s winner and yellow jersey holder, Belgian Lotte Kopecky, who took full advantage of the work of her teammates from SD Worx — Protime at the end of the last climb of the day.
The Italian and teammate of Quebecer Olivia Baril at UAE Team ADQ, Silvia Persico, took third place. A ranking that looks like a relief as indicated by the athlete from Rouyn-Noranda, whose training had had a bad day on Sunday.
“It’s a better day for the team. Sylvia tried to go for the stage victory and as for me, I followed several dangerous attacks earlier in the race. I really had better feelings than yesterday [Sunday], “said Baril, who still has sights in the general classification, she who went from 48th to 29th in the provisional classification, 2 min 24 s from the lead.
Baril was the best Quebecer of the day, finishing in 24th place (8 s). Simone Boilard (St-Michel – Mavic – Auber93) is 39th (53 s), Clara Emond (Arkéa) 47th (1 min 5 s), Magdeleine Vallières-Mill (EF Education – TIBCO – SVB) 124th (15 min 49 s) and Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin (Cofidis) 138th (15 min 52 s).
Anouska Koster (Uno-X), Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Eva van Agt (Jumbo – Visma) animated the last third of the event, except that their lead over the peloton did not exceed one minute.
The leading trio turned into a duo when Kastelijn swerved to the left at the exit of a roundabout to avoid falling on the slippery road. Then, it was van Agt who fell heavily while passing under a parapet on a descent.
She did not make it to the finish and her team confirmed she was conscious when taken to hospital for a series of tests.
Koster and Kastelijn were caught up in the final climb, the Côte de Trébiac. SD Worx – Protime set the stage for their leader to win a second day in a row, except that Liane Lippert won by a bike in advance.
A 147-kilometre course between Collonges-la-Rouge and Montignac-Lascaux awaits the runners on Tuesday.
