Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) finished second on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes, outsprinting everyone in the peloton on the uphill finish in Quimper but having late attacker Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco) cross the finish line three seconds ahead of her.
"I wasn't 100% confident to sprint for the win today because it was almost a tougher final than yesterday. But I also knew the beginning of the climb was really steep, and I had in my mind that I just needed to hang on until the left corner, they could not drop me afterwards. Yes, there was still one rider in front, but I think we can be happy with the result," Wiebes told a huddle of journalists after the stage.
With her teammate Lotte Kopecky not at her best, Wiebes had free rein to test herself on the hilly stage with its challenging finish.
"I was kind of free today to see how far I could come. That's also why we didn't really take the initiative to close the gap, because [if I don't make it] we waste energy for nothing. It was a bit of a gamble," explained Wiebes.
For a rider with over 100 victories, winning the sprint behind a solo rider can be frustrating, but the European champion was more than content with her performance.
"For some people, it's strange that I'm not super frustrated, but this is how I came into this race. Everything I win here is extra, and that's also how it felt today. I am really happy to improve on these punchy stages, and I can be really happy with this result, beating the best of the world on this uphill finish," she said.
Wiebes did not see the responsibility to close the gap to García with herself or her team.
"If they were not doubting behind, then we would have closed the gap. I think the peloton could have done more. I mean, if you doubt in the last 500 metres and nobody is really pulling anymore, probably because of me, then it's also the fault of the peloton. That's why I think we could not have done it any differently as a team," she said.
Coming onto the finishing straight, García was only a few seconds ahead, and a stage victory still looked possible.
"That's actually why I started my sprint a bit earlier, normally I would not start at around 200 metres to go on this finish. But you still hope that she maybe doesn't have the legs anymore or something. Then I saw she would make it and was like, 'OK, it is what it is'. The good thing is that we have two more stages to go for the win for me," the 26-year-old was already looking ahead to the flatter stages on Monday and Tuesday.
Although Wiebes is the big favourite for those sprints, she doesn't feel any extra pressure.
"Of course I want to win a stage, and I know that the legs are good, but there are more sprinters who want to win the stages, so you're never sure," she finished.
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