Stage 2: Aigle > Geneva
Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes was expected to favour the sprinters, even though the peloton had to overcome five categorised climbs on the way from Aigle to Geneva. After 50 kilometres, a five-rider breakaway finally established itself and built a small advantage over the peloton. On the final climbs, two riders were dropped from the move as the peloton closed in, before a series of counterattacks led to a new eight-rider group forming on and after the final categorised climb.
That move was brought back soon after, but one rider managed to go clear alone. Markus, the solo attacker, was caught inside the final kilometre, setting up the expected bunch sprint in Geneva. For Team Picnic PostNL, Pfeiffer Georgi did a strong job of positioning Josie Nelson in the final kilometres. Nelson launched her sprint early and committed all the way to the line. While Wiebes took her second stage win in two days, Nelson crossed the line in 6th after a strong performance.
After the stage, Nelson said: “It was a really grippy day and the climbs were full gas so I was struggling on them but made it over in pretty good shape. The heat made the racing much harder as well but the girls were really on it getting bottles for us. In the final we found each other well and it was the perfect lead-out and I opened my sprint up on the corner and just tried to hold it as long as possible.”
