Vollering takes Tour de France Femmes lead

Defending champion Demi Vollering took the Tour de France Femmes lead with victory in the stage three time trial, after Charlotte Kool won her second straight stage earlier in the day.

Dutch rider Vollering completed the 6.3km course in Rotterdam in seven minutes 25 seconds and now leads the general classification by three seconds over SD Worx team-mate and compatriot Lorena Wiebes.

At the end of a 67km flat run from Dordrecht to Rotterdam in the morning, Kool kicked past Wiebes late on to claim her second bunch sprint victory after winning Monday’s opening stage.

Kool finished 33rd in the individual time trial, 25 seconds down on Vollering, and is now fifth overall at five seconds back.

The race, now in its third edition, moves from the Netherlands into Belgium on Wednesday, before entering France on Thursday.

Vollering’s victory in last year’s Tour de France Femmes came after a sensational solo win on the penultimate mountain stage.

In Rotterdam, she produced a dominant time trial performance she said she “didn’t see coming”, which gives her the leader’s yellow jersey with her favoured terrain in the mountains still to come at the weekend.

Given how short the course was, her margin of victory by five seconds over American 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Chloe Dygert was decisive.

Britain’s Anna Henderson, who won time trial silver in Paris, finished 11 seconds down on Vollering in 10th and is now 11th overall.

Olympic time trial champion Grace Brown could not contend for the stage victory after the Australian required a bike change.

“I had no idea I could do this,” said Vollering. “I really wasn’t even thinking of the podium.

“It’s nice that I have the yellow jersey. It’s up to the other teams to take it.”

DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider Kool earlier timed her kick perfectly once again to surge around Wiebes and win stage two.

Belgian rider Audrey de Keersmaeker launched a solo breakaway early on in the stage and stayed clear for 30km.

She was caught with just under 10km to go and the sprinters’ teams took control, with Wiebes looking well placed to make up for a dropped chain costing her on stage one.

But Kool manoeuvred herself onto Wiebes’ wheel and came round in the final 100m to edge her rival on the line, with another Dutchwoman, Marianne Vos, in third.

Despite failing to keep hold of the leader’s yellow jersey in the time trial, Kool said she had “no regrets”.

“It was really special to wear yellow in front of the home fans here,” she added. “It’s a day I will remember forever.”

Wednesday’s fourth stage is a 122.7km hilly course from Valkenburg to Liege.

Selected others:

11. Anna Henderson (GB/Team Visma) +11secs

18. Pfeiffer Georgi (GB/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +16secs

29. Lizzie Holden (GB/UAE Team ADQ) +23secs

99. Lizzie Deignan (GB/Lidl-Trek) +49secs

127. Alice Towers (GB/Canyon–SRAM) +1min 12secs

146. Becky Storrie (GB/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +5mins 39secs