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Charlotte Kool won on home turf in the opening women’s Tour de France race with a dominant sprint finish in The Hague.
The 25-year-old from Bralicum, who rides for the dsm-firmenich PostNL team, took the leader’s yellow jersey thanks to the bonus seconds he earned in his win, four seconds ahead of Finland’s Anniina Ahtosalo.
Another hopeful, Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands, retired in the final few meters after her chain fell off. Last year’s overall winner, Demi Vollering, finished safely in 35th place, among the leading group.
Olympic road race silver medalist Marianne Vos finished fifth, while Mylène de Zoete, who rode through her hometown of Naaldwijk, finished seventh.
“This is the day I’ve been looking forward to,” said Kuhl, who struggled with health issues earlier this season. “Never give up. There’s still a long way to go, but my coach said I can easily do the long sprints. I keep working hard, and that’s enough.”
The opener of the seven-stage race takes riders from Rotterdam through Westerland, then the 21km circuit of The Hague, before finishing with a short climb through the dunes of Kijkden.
Italy’s Cristina Tonetti broke away early, building a 45-second lead and taking the polka-dot jersey for best climber, before the field came together again for the expected mass sprint.
With two more flat stages in Deventer and Rotterdam on Tuesday, Tonetti is guaranteed to retain the climbing queen’s jersey until at least Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the riders will start in Falkenberg before crossing the border to Liege in Belgium, with the final two stages heading into the Alps and finishing in the Alps, where Wöllering is expected to fight for the title.
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