Dutch rider Charlotte Kool on Monday kept her head amid a chaotic bunched sprint finish to win the first stage of the women’s Tour de France.
“It was really hectic, but I like it. I kept on thinking: ‘Okay I like hectic, I like chaos,’” the 25-year-old said.
Kool, born in North Holland, took the yellow jersey on home soil as the women’s Tour got under way in the Netherlands with a 123km flat ride from Rotterdam to The Hague.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Topping 60kph as she crossed the line, the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rider claimed her maiden Tour win with an unstoppable surge in the last 100m to complete the stage in a time of two hours 47 minutes and 40 seconds.
“It’s a dream coming true,” Kool said. “It was not an easy season and this is where it was all about... This is I think the best day of my life.”
Finland’s Anniina Ahtosalo of Uno-X Mobility and Italian Elisa Balsamo of Lidl - Trek completed the podium.
The prerace favourite, Lorena Wiebes, fell foul of a problem with the chain of her bike just an agonizing 200m from the finish line, leaving the route open for her compatriot to sprint to her first win of the season.
Reigning Tour champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands had a quiet day, as did her fellow podium contenders, Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and France’s Juliette Labous and Evita Muzic.
CRASH DRAMA
There was drama with 69km still to go when a mass crash in the middle of peloton brought dozens of riders to a halt on a bridge near the Meuse river.
Thankfully none of the competitors were seriously hurt and all were able to remount their bikes and take off again in pursuit of the front half of the peloton.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS