Wiebes wins Tour de France Femmes stage two for second straight day

Lorena Wiebes won stage two of the Tour de France Femmes after a late sprint on the 147.9km route from Aigle to Geneva, extending her overall lead and claiming a record seventh race stage win.

Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes won stage two of the Tour de France Femmes to complete back-to-back stage victories and extend her overall lead. Last year’s green jersey winner surged clear with 250 metres to go on the hilly 147.9km route from Aigle to Geneva in Switzerland, much of it along the lakeside.

The charging peloton had already brought back Lidl-Trek rider Riejanne Markus, who had broken away on her own, inside the final kilometre before Wiebes powered away to win by several bike lengths.

"The girls were chasing full gas to bring back Riejanne Markus, so it is even more beautiful to finish it off in the yellow jersey," Wiebes said.

"Every sprint is quite exciting - one small mistake and it is over.

"It will be hard to keep it [the yellow jersey] tomorrow, but we will try our best."

The 27-year-old Team SD Worx-Protime rider has now won seven Tour de France Femmes stages, extending her record as the rider with the most stage victories since the race returned to the World Tour calendar in 2022. She is widely regarded as the fastest female sprinter in the peloton, and she is a two-time European champion.

Italy’s Elisa Balsamo finished second, while Netherlands veteran Marianne Vos, 39, took third. Great Britain’s Josie Nelson and Zoe Backstedt finished sixth and seventh respectively.

The 2026 Tour de France Femmes features 147 riders across nine stages, including a first ascent of the famous Mont Ventoux climb on stage seven. Stage three on Monday includes a steep 11km climb just outside Geneva, followed by a flat 15km stretch to the finish line at Poligny.

The climb is unlikely to suit sprint specialist Wiebes, although the flat run-in could allow SD Worx-Protime to organise a chase.