Tour de France Femmes 2024: Charlotte Kool doubles up with brilliant sprint finish to take Stage 2 in style
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Updated 13/08/2024 at 12:33 GMT+1
Charlotte Kool's incredible start to the 2024 Tour de France Femmes has continued after she secured a superb sprint victory on Stage 2 of the race to go along with her victory on the opening stage. Lorena Wiebes looked like she might take the win instead, but Kool came through at the last second to secure her second win as many days in her home country of the Netherlands.
'Dreams come true quite fast these days' - Kool revels in winning second stage
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Charlotte Kool (dsm–firmenich PostNL) secured her second win in as many days as she pipped Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx–Protime) at the line for a sprint win on Stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
On another flat day it was always going to be a sprint finish and despite a good leadout for Wiebes, Kool kept calm and swung round the side at the last moment to take the win.
The day is part of what should be a thrilling double-header with the riders having just a short turnaround before they take part in Stage 3, which will be a time trial within Rotterdam.
It was Kool’s 20th career victory and first in the Tour de France yellow jersey. She bided her time well as she overtook Marianne Vos (Visma Lease a Bike) on the right-hand side before she moved towards the centre of the road to Wiebes’ left and launched her decisive sprint to take the stage win on the line.
Stage two was a short one at 67.9km, but it was not exempt from crashes along the way on the flat parcours. An early crash a kilometre into the race split the peloton as a large group of riders were delayed, but they rejoined the bunch at the 55km-to-go mark.
Following a brief attack from Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi’s Laura Tomasi, Belgian rider Audrey De Keersmaeker (Lotto Dstny) went clear in the move that would see her stay solo until the final 10km.
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'It was a pretty crazy final, but she's just so fast' - Georgi hails Kool after second stage win
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As the front of the race crossed the five kilometre-to-go mark, Kool was well positioned with Franziska Koch leading Team dsm-firmenich PostNL and British champion Pfeiffer Georgi on her wheel with the yellow jersey just behind.
SD Worx-Protime took control at the front going into the final three kilometres as Blanka Vas upped the pace around a corner before handing over to European champion Mischa Bredewold.
The team of the defending champion looked strong as they lined up for the sprint with Barbara Guarischi at the front and Wiebes went early, perhaps too early as suggested by teammate Demi Vollering after the finish.
Kool weaved her way past Vos and went toe-to-toe with Wiebes before she turned the screw and took her second Tour de France Femmes stage.
Vos took third place, Lotta Henttala (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) matched her position from the day before with another fourth-place finish, and Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo crossed just behind in fifth.
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Teammates 'really motivated' to help Wiebes win after 'sad' first two stages - Vollering
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The result sees Kool retain the yellow jersey going into the third stage in the afternoon, where she will be the last rider to start the time trial.
Wiebes moved up 38 places to third in general classification while Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) kept her second place.
The time trial specialists in the peloton will be looking to make their mark in stage three’s punchy 6.3km route. Olympic champion Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ), despite a crash in Stage 2, and World Champion Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM) will both be key contenders.
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