Olympic speed skater Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) sprinted to victory and into the first race lead on stage 1 of the Bretagne Ladies Tour in Plouay.
After a punchy day, the opening stage came down to a group sprint, with Belgium's Tas proving fastest. She beat former world champion Amalie Dideriksen (Cofidis) into second, whilst Hélène Hesters took third for Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team.
Tas, who competed at the winter Olympics in Italy only a few months ago, has raced bikes for several years, but only moved into a ProTeam this year, and Friday's win in Brittany is her first pro road victory.
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The three-day Bretagne Ladies Tour got underway on Friday with a lumpy 120km stage from Ploemeur to Plouay, taking in laps not dissimilar to the GP de Plouay, featuring the kilometre-long Côte de Lezot multiple times.
There were just two WorldTour teams on the start list, with the majority of the peloton made up of ProTeams, Continental teams, and regional French outfits.
A two-rider breakaway of Hélène Clauzel (Fenix-Premier Tech Development Team) and Heïdi Gaugain (Bretagne) and they spent much of the day out front, but were reeled in in advance of the finale.
With the regrouping, the attacks began, but nothing stuck, and a group of around 40 riders made it to the finish for a large sprint, won by Tas.
Racing continues on stage 2 with an individual time trial around Plomodiern, where Tas will wear the fuchsia leader's jersey, leading by four seconds over Dideriksen.
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