The Belgian Kopecky, first yellow jersey of the women’s tour

Clermont-Ferrand is all about the Puy de Dôme, including the route that opens the Tour Femmes on a sunny Sunday. Even the local newspaper is called La Montagne and the first stage left its doors after the live countdown on TV. On the pages of the local newspaper one could read an interview with ex-cyclist Marion Rousse, director of the test, in which she says she hopes that the race will be a hundred years old, which, apart from a genetic miracle, she will not live to see.

Although who knows what may happen in a century. You can’t even guess what will happen half an hour later. Mireia Benito, sociable by heart and with a master’s degree in molecular biology, was happy and excited to be part of the club of privileged women competing in a great race. She told TV that she was fulfilling a dream when the start took place, but that dream was shattered 26km later when she was at the head of the peloton trying to overtake through a non-existent ditch and suffered a bad fall despite the tall grass dampening her. The Catalan runner was the Tour’s first casualty and had to be taken to hospital with a neck brace on her neck, according to her team, despite being conscious.

Like Rousse, like Benito, Lotte Kopecky spoke in front of the stage in the elegant jersey of the Belgian champion, like so many others, but remained reticent about what she had in mind. “I will not reveal our strategy.” State secret, although the plan usually involves running faster than others and having stronger legs.

Lotte Kopecky crosses the finish line, winner of stage one.JEFF PACHOUD (AFP)

And after a peloton-controlled stage with minimal attempts at insurrection and no hope of progress; With Mireia Benito in the hospital and Marion Rousse in the red number 1 Skoda paying attention to every detail, Kopecky, winner of the Tour of Flanders and the Strade Bianche, used the last few meters of the only height of the first stage, ten kilometers from the finish, to, after wearing down her team, push to the left of the peloton and surprise them with a sharp attack that nobody answered. On the spot was Mavi García, who made a feint that went nowhere. The Belgian, multiple world champion in athletics, took advantage of that, nobody understood it and dressed in yellow. His partner Lorena Wiebes, who arrived first in the group, raised her arms, but she wasn’t wrong. He celebrated Kopecky’s success just in front of a group in which the favorites took the final win, including Demi Volleroing and Annemick Van Vleuten, who ran the entire stage, well protected by their Movistar teammates. The Spaniards Santesteban and García also appeared in the mind.

The second stage between Clermont-Ferrand and Mauriac, with a length of 151.7 kilometers, will have a rougher layout with six classification levels, the last of which, in Trebiac, the third category, is the finish line.

Level classification:

General ranking:

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.