R.A.S. The peloton remained tightly bunched throughout stage 2 of the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes on the beautiful roads of the Saone-et-Loire region. Apart from three crashes on the way to the actual start, there was nothing to thwart the likelihood of a sprint finish. The rare attempts were so timid that none of them managed to gain more than a few lengths’ advantage over the peloton. Admittedly, the prospect of the mountains to come on Thursday and Friday is likely to dampen the hopes of women lacking a reference point in an event of this type, but the development of women’s cycling is also at stake and this issue must be taken into consideration.
In short, 102 of the 105 competitors still in the race rode together to the finish in Louhans-Chateaurenaud, where a large and friendly crowd awaited them. Switzerland’s Linda Zanetti was the clear winner, emerging from the pack ahead of Belgium’s Julie De Wilde, now wearing the green Biofioul jersey.
German rider Antonia Niedermaier’s CIC yellow jersey was therefore in no danger and she also leads the De Dietrich youth classification, which is reserved for 19 and 20 year-olds. For her part, Dutch rider Fem Van Empel, 3rd in the stage, wears the polka-dot Alden best climber jersey after taking the lead on the small Col de Brancion at the halfway point.
German rider Antonia Niedermaier’s CIC yellow jersey was therefore in no danger and she also leads the De Dietrich youth classification reserved for 19 and 20 year-olds.
For her part, Dutch rider Fem Van Empel, 3rd in the stage, wears the polka-dot Alden best climber jersey after taking the lead on the small Col de Brancion at the halfway point.
Stage 3 takes the peloton from Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne (Ain) to Val d’Epy (Jura) over 97.3km, which includes the côte du Thoissia classified as a 2nd category climb in the final fifteen kilometres.
