Who can stop Lorena Wiebes in a sprint?

The 23-year-old Dutchwoman once again proved her status as the best sprinter in the world, on Sunday July 24, by winning the first stage of the Tour de France Women, allowing her to wear a historic yellow jersey.

Is this the habit of podiums?

Still, when it came time to obtain the precious tunic, she kept the solemn at a distance.

She came up with a baby.

Not his.

"I made a bet with a friend, I told her that I would try to take him with me. (...) It is not my baby, otherwise I think I could not have been here, I think," she said with a smile.

The cherub, he had little taste for the joke.

He was in tears during the sequence.

Tour de France Female stage one winner, Lorena Wiebes, had a bet with a friend that if she won, she'd bring her friend's baby on the podium with her.

The baby was not happy about it 👶😭 pic.twitter.com/O0EA94qqXI

— Nancy Gillen (@Nancy_Gillen) July 24, 2022

But despite this lightness, Lorena Wiebes had come to the Champs-Élysées determined.

She had also announced the color on her nails, yellow varnish on the left hand, green on the right.

Like the color of the two jerseys she obtained with her authoritarian victory.

To win, the Dutchwoman proved to be better than her compatriot, the legend Marianne Vos.

In an attempt to win, the triple world champion (2006, 2012 and 2013), launched the sprint from afar to try to win on the Parisian avenue, as in 2014, when she won the first edition of La Course by Le Tour on these same cobblestones.

But Wiebes, well placed in the final bend, was not surprised in this twelfth lap of the circuit around the Tuileries gardens and on the Champs-Élysées, taken by the men at the start of the evening.

>> See also ActuElles: The return of the Tour de France Women, a major step for women's cycling

"The girls did an incredible job. I was able to accelerate again to pass Marianne on the line", praised Wiebes at the end of the 82 km, aware that the best sprinter in the world can often not do anything in the absence of a "train" of efficient teammates to ride on the breakaways and bring it in the best conditions to the last hectometres where it makes its power speak.

Early victories

However, Lorena Wiebes' first love of sport was not cycling: she first fell in love with gymnastics and then football.

Then, she first preferred cyclocross before finally taking up the road at the age of 14.

Well he took it.

The DSM rocket rushes on her bike as in life: she turned professional at the age of 18.

His victory on the Champs-Élysées was already the 52nd of his career at just 23 years old, undoubtedly the greatest.

"That was the goal since the start of the season," she said at a press conference.

I put pressure on myself as soon as I saw the course."

Her talents as a pure sprinter have already given her a record as long as her arm.

In 2019, she became champion of the Netherlands, a real achievement as the country flies over women's cycling.

This year, she finished world number 1 at the age of only 20, having raised her arms 15 times in the year. 

In the year 2022, it is levitating.

The Dutchwoman has already raised her arms 16 times with, among her achievements, three stage victories and the general classification of the RideLondon-Classique, three stages on the Women's Tour and four stages on the Baloise Ladies Tour, just before the Tour de France.

It's simple: in a bunch sprint, only the Italian world champion Elisa Balsamo was able to deprive her of success this year.

And again, only twice.

Men and women alike, she is quite simply THE runner.

No hay ciclista en 2022, hombre o mujer, con más victorias que @lorenawiebes 🇳🇱 16x🥇



Ciclistas con más triunfos en 2022:



16 |

Wiebes 🇳🇱


13 |

Pogacar 🇸🇮


11 |

Jakobsen 🇳🇱


10 |

Evenepoel 🇧🇪


8 |

Balsamo 🇮🇹, Van Aert 🇧🇪, Kooij 🇳🇱 #TDFF #TDF2022

— Pedaleando Datos (@PedaleandoDatos) July 24, 2022

If Lorena Wiebes does not have the climbing skills necessary for a final victory, she should still have a few opportunities to shine in the Tour de France, starting with the second stage between Meaux and Provins.

And aim for the green jersey?

"Tomorrow's stage is really important," Wiebes is already planning.

"The green jersey, we are not going to leave a crazy energy there", she assures.

"There will be the general (ranking) to play with Juliette (Labous, the best French chance)."

The yellow jersey also knows how to play collectively.

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