Lorena Wiebes may be the fastest sprinter in the world with the best lead-out train in the world, but the European champion proved that she could do it on her own on stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes in Poitiers.
The Dutchwoman, who celebrated her second win in two days at the race and the 16th of her season, once again outpaced Marianne Vos to the line, though this time having 'freestyled' in the final kilometre of the 130.7km stage through Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Her SD Worx-Protime teammates Anna van der Breggen and Lotte Kopecky had put in pulls on the front during the final 5km of the stage, but come the final stretch of the race, it was all up to the 26-year-old.
After Uno-X Mobility took control of the situation heading under the flamme rouge, and with Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto commandeering the right-hand side of the road, Wiebes surfed wheels, staying out of the wind until it was time to strike.
A small gap emerged behind Canyon sprinter Chloe Dygert and Eline Jansen of VolkerWessels, and Wiebes took it. Soon enough, she was gone, up the barriers and away. Vos once again took her wheel, this time even managing to get up alongside her compatriot, but it wasn't enough to unseat Wiebes as the queen of sprinting.
"At one point, I said to Lotte that it's good like this and I'll find my own way," Wiebes said in the post-stage press conference. "It wasn't so hectic because there aren't so many teams with lead-outs.
"Uno pulled in the last kilometre, and the Dygert started to sprint. The most important thing I knew was not to get boxed in. That's why I started my sprint early, because if she moves a bit to the right, the space is gone on the right."
Van der Breggen, who lies seventh overall in the GC, put in several big turns for Wiebes, the Dutch team still keen to maintain their pre-race goal of targeting stage wins. The Dutch veteran impressed with three separate pulls during the final kilometres, before Wiebes was left to finish off the job.
"Anna did really good on the uphill part at 3km to go," Wiebes said. "After Movistar and Lotte took over, I saw she was still there, so I made a sign for her to come back because I was still far away. Her coming back was really nice, but then I knew it was up to me.
"It's really nice to have a lead-out as you're in control, but it's also nice to trust your own feeling on how to do the sprint."
With two wins to one and a 40-point lead over Vos, Wiebes' self-confessed "idol of women's cycling", she still trails in the overall win count, 109 to 258. She looks on track to add a first Tour de France Femmes green jersey to her palmarès and may yet be in the mix again during stage 5's tricky final in Guéret.
It's already the best season of her career, Wiebes said in the post-race presser, with two Tour wins adding to two at the Giro d'Italia, plus big spring victories at Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem.
The key this month, Wiebes said, has been about taking the pressure off herself before the race, with her pre-race preparation focussed on helping Kopecky – at least until just before the Tour when the world champion made it clear that a GC bid was off the table.
"I think until now it's a great season," Wiebes said. "2022 was great with the win on the Champs-Elysées and getting yellow for a day. But I think the other wins weren't on the level of this year. Winning Milan-San Remo was also a big one. I can say I think this is my best season until now.
"I think last year the pressure was way more before the Tour, also because it was in the Netherlands. That's why I try to have a freer mindset these days. The most important thing was to keep on thinking like the season is still really good, even if you don't win at the Tour de France. Now, it all fell into place, so that's really nice.
"At the beginning of the season, it was clear that I would support Lotte when the big GC ambitions were there, so I went into the season differently. You focus on the Tour and you want to be in your best shape, but the pressure was not on winning stages.
"That changed just before the start of this Tour, and it maybe made it easier because it was like we don't have to do. Of course, it would be nice if we get the stage wins, but it wasn't a big goal from the start of the season."
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