No double for Lotte Kopecky. The day after her solo victory, on Sunday July 23, during the first stage, the rider from the SD Worx team was overtaken, between Clermont-Ferrand and Mauriac (Cantal), by the German Liane Lippert. The 25-year-old Movistar rider won her first Grand Tour victory on Monday July 24. The Italian Silvia Persico completes the podium of the day, after a chaotic end of the race, in the rain. Lotte Kopecky, however, retains the leader’s yellow jersey and even consolidates his lead. She is 49 seconds ahead of her runner-up, Liane Lippert, and 59 seconds ahead of her main competitors.
Rain, falls and attacks by the French
If the victory was decided in the sprint after 151 kilometers of racing, the day was marked by many breakaways. The Dutch Yara Kastelijn, Anouska Koster and Eva van Agt, who started 40 kilometers from Mauriac, were only caught in the final corners. Previously, the six climbs listed combined with heavy showers had, little by little, sorted through the peloton. There were only 25 elements left in the lead after the Trébiac coast (3.4 km at 5.8%). Ludwig (FDJ-Suez), Vollering (Team SD Worx), Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram Racing), Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) and Van Vleuten (Movistar), in particular, were present at the time of the final packaging.
On the other hand, the French are left behind. After a disappointing first day, Juliette Labous, fourth in the Tour last year and second in the last Giro, however, seemed more on her feet. La Bisontine launched – in vain – a frank attack 3 kilometers from the finish and is already more than 1 minute and 40 seconds behind Lotte Kopecky in the general classification. First Frenchwoman, Evita Muzic is 1 minute and 3 seconds behind the Belgian.
Due to the road being made slippery by the rain, the day was also marked by numerous falls. The last winner of Paris-Roubaix, Alison Jackson, made a mistake, as did Annemiek Van Vleuten, outgoing winner of the Tour, who fell one kilometer from the top of the Côte des Plaines. Eva Van Agt meanwhile hit a crash barrier heavily on a descent as she opened the road. Conscious and holding one arm, the Dutch woman was taken care of by the medical team, and forced to abandon.
Finally, the French Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa Pro Cycling Team), 76e of the general last year on the Tour, left the Grande Boucle because of persistent stomach aches.