Stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift produced a much anticipated and enthralling bunch sprint in Angers on Monday afternoon, with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) beating Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) to the finish line. Ally Wollaston (FDJ – SUEZ), Megan Jastrab (Team Picnic PostNL) and Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) completed the top five, after a late crash in the bunch disrupted the work of the teams targeting the sprint and the GC. The victory for Wiebes is her fourth in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, putting her top of the stage winners list, whilst the second place finish for Vos was enough to put her back in the Yellow Jersey at the top of the GC by 6” from Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) and by 12” from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). 2023 winner Demi Vollering (FDJ – SUEZ) was delayed by the late crash 3.7km from the finish, but was finally able to remount and complete the stage and was given the same finishing time as her GC rivals, meaning she now sits sixth overall, 19” down on Vos in the classification.
Longo Borghini withdraws
Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) did not take the start of Stage 3 in La Gacilly, withdrawing beforehand due to illness, meaning there were 146 riders in the peloton as the day’s action commenced. After several early attacks it was eventually Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Sara Martin (Movistar), Clémence Latimier (Arkéa - B&B Hotels Women) and Catalina Soto Campos (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) who formed a breakaway quartet from km 14, with Franziska Brausse (Ceratizit) and Alison Avoine (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93) counter attacking behind them.
Four out front
By the time the leading four reached the summit of Côte de la Richardière (Category 4, km 34.1) - with Jackson going over first for two points in the mountains classification and with Martin in second place (1 pt) - the peloton were three minutes behind them and the counter attackers Brausse and Avoine were neutralised by the bunch. AG Insurance - Soudal Team rider Kim Le Court – Pienaar’s Yellow Jersey was not threatened by the breakaway, as the best-placed rider in the quartet, Alison Jackson (69th), was 11'59" behind the leader before Stage 3.
A stabilised gap
The peloton allowed the four escapees to stay in front en route to the intermediate sprint at Vern d’Anjou (km 123.9), just steadily chipping away at the advantage they allowed the breakaway. Jackson led the break through the intermediate sprint at Vern d’Anjou, followed by Soto Campos, Latimier and Martin, whilst at the head of the peloton Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) beat Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in the sprint for fifth, to earn 13 points, as Vos earned 11.
Full gas into Angers
After the intermediate sprint Demi Vollering (FDJ – Suez) accelerated in a brief attack but she was marked by a group of ten riders and the bunch stayed together, SD Worx-Protime doing most of the work at the front over the final kilometres into Angers, with Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto eventually joining them at the head of the peloton. Inside the final 10 km the breakaway imploded with Latimier distanced as Martin and Jackson attacked and then Soto Campos briefly went clear with 7.5km to go. After the respective attacks in the break they were finally caught by the bunch with just under 6km to go, with Wiebes ultimately taking another Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage win, just ahead of her rival Vos, who proudly reclaims the Yellow Jersey.
