Charlotte Kool wins stage 1 sprint in The Hague and takes first yellow jersey of Tour de France Femmes
Charlotte Kool won stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes in a mass sprint ahead of Anniina Ahtosalo and Elisa Balsamo .
Lorena Wiebes was piloted perfectly in the final kilometre but appeared to drop her chain after contact with Ahtosalo, as her teammate Barbara Guarischi started the final leadout.
When Guarischi looked around, it was Kool who came out of her slipstream to take the lead and hold off the challenge from Ahtosalo, Balsamo, Marianne Vos and Lotta Henttala.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s a dream coming true. It was not an easy season, but this is what it was all about,” Kool said after her first Tour stage victory.
I want to thank so many people, my coach who always kept believing in me, all my people around me, this is unbelievable.
“It was a really hectic final, but I like that. I went so early and thought, ‘oh, it’s too long’, and it hurt so bad, but it was enough in the end.
“I think this is the best day of my life. Everything comes together, and that’s really special,” Kool continued, also taking the yellow jersey in her home country.”
Kool came from behind and surged past Wiebes’s lead out Barbara Guarischi to win with a good margin ahead of the four closest riders behind her. She also took the first yellow jersey and the green jersey of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
Stage runner-up Ahtosalo took the best young rider’s white jersey.
They will wear the jerseys during Tuesday’s 67.9km morning stage from Dordrecht to Rotterdam.
