Team dsm-firmenich and Juliette Labous showed resilience in the second stage of the Tour de France Femmes, as the French rider placed several attacks on the technical parcours and eventually crossed the line in the group of favourites for the general classification.
The peloton rolled out in a sunny Clermont-Ferrand this Monday’s afternoon, taking on the second stage of Tour de France Femmes. Awaiting them was a whopping four categorised climbs, making it a nice opportunity for a strong breakaway or the GC favourites. The race kicked off within the final 50 kilometres to the finish in Mauriac as the peloton faced the day’s longest climb, the Côte de Plaines. The ladies showed great team work and kept Labous safe when the pace was upped and many riders were dropped.
As the GC favourites stayed together, the race calmed down again and several attacks followed. Then it was Labous’ turn, placing two attacks in the final 25 kilometres on the Côte de Merlhac and opening up small gap with the other favourites. However, as expected her rivals did not want to let her go by any chance and responded quickly with a counter attack. Defending several other attacks in the final rainy descent, Labous eventually crossed the line in the group of GC favourites, and with that showing good legs and bouncing back from yesterday.
