The summer of sport for France rolls on as the annual Tour de France Femmes begins
Charlotte Kool celebrates during stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes in The Hague
By David Close, CNN
(CNN) — The fever pitch for sport following the successful Summer Games has continued following Sunday’s closing ceremony in Paris.
The week-long Tour de France Femmes kicked off Monday with the start of the annual eight-stage race in the Netherlands.
Like the men’s tour, the event needed to adjust its usual French start to accommodate France’s resources and infrastructure dedicated to the just-completed Summer Games.
This year’s edition features the world’s top riders, many of whom just competed in the women’s road race at Paris 2024.
At the start of Monday, 153 riders lined up for the third annual edition on a sunny and bright day in Rotterdam.
Dutch rider Charlotte Kool of team DSM-Firmenich PostNL sprinted to an opening stage victory on her home soil for her first-ever Tour de France Femmes stage win. It was a proud moment for the 25-year-old and for the co-host nation, as it represented the first stage win outside of France at this event.
Kool surged toward the finish line to cross more than a bike length ahead of the pack with a time of two hours, 47 minutes and 40 seconds.
At the finish, she covered her mouth in disbelief about what she had just accomplished. Kool then immediately thrust her arms upward in triumph as The Hague crowd rejoiced.
Following the win, an emotional Kool got off her bike and sat directly on the road with her hands covering her face.
She called it a dream come true.
”This is the best day of my life,” she said.
The 2024 Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner of the US is also in the field.
In 2023, Netherlands’ Demi Vollering secured her first-ever Tour de France Femmes title and is back to defend her yellow jersey.
The race continues with two stages on Tuesday.
Stage 2 is a 43.3-mile (69.7-kilometer) ride from Dordrecht to Rotterdam.
Staying in Rotterdam, stage 3 will follow in the afternoon, the lone-time trail of the event.
Stage 4 will mostly be hosted by Belgium.
The race will run from Valkenburg to Liège, with Thursday’s Stage 5 crossing over the border into France.
The course runs south through eastern France, with Stage 5 (Bastogne to Amnéville), Stage 6 (Remiremont to Morteau), and Stage 7 (Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand).
On Sunday, the event will crown a champion in southeastern France in the famed French Alps. Sunday’s stage 8 ends at the top of Alpe d’Huez (Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez).
The race’s inaugural edition in 2022 was a rebirth of the event. The history of the Tour de France Femmes dates back to September 1955
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