Two stages in one day was quite the topic of today’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The day started with stage two, another flat day with a sprint finish in Rotterdam. It was a short distance of just 67.9km but not short of action along the way on the flat terrain. Kasia Niewiadoma was CANYON//SRAM Racing’s best-placed rider finishing 25th and just behind those contesting the bunch sprint.

The peloton quickly turned around before the second stage of the day, a short 6.3km individual time trial for stage three. It was the first time UCI ITT World Champion Chloé Dygert had raced in the rainbow stripes after a series of setbacks early in 2024, which meant she missed the rare opportunities on the first half of the season calendar to race an ITT.

Crossing the line in 7 minutes and 30 seconds, with an average speed over 50km/hour, Chloé narrowly took the lead from Loes Adegeest (FDJ), nudging under the previous best time by 0.17 seconds. After 30 minutes in the hot seat, Chloé had to make way for Demi Vollering (SDW), who took the stage win and is the new Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift leader. Kasia had a solid time trial performance over the flat course, finishing thirty seconds behind the winner.

In the general classification, Chloé is third after stage three at +5 seconds. Tomorrow’s stage is the first time the peloton hit some climbs, with an Ardennes Classics-style race between Valkenburg and Liège, that should suit the CANYON//SRAM Racing squad.

Rider reactions

Chloé Dygert: “I did the best I could today. I’m thankful for being here at my first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The TT stage was fast and bumpy. Normally, I would say that the short course suits me well, but I didn’t have a good feeling today. I’m ready to focus now on the rest of the week and support our GC goals.”

Soraya Paladin: “It was not my best time trial, but it still hurt quite a lot. It was a fast and windy course. I tried to save some energy where I could. As a team, we’re all looking forward now to the road stages that suit our strengths. And lucky for us, that’s already tomorrow into the finish in Liége.”

How to watch

The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is from 12 to 18 August. The race can be followed on X with #TDFF2024 and #WatchTheFemmes.

A daily broadcast can be found on France TV, RTBF, VRT, TG4, NOS, TV2, Eurosport, RTVE, SRG-SSR, SPORTSCHAU, CARACOL, RCN, FRANCE 24, SUPERSPORT, ABU DHABI SPORTS, FLOBIKES, CNBC, PEACOCK, ESPN, SBS, JSPORTS, SKY SPORT, ZHIBO TV, TV5MONDE and MAX.

Stage 4 | Valkenburg – Liège | 122.7km | 12:25CEST | Broadcast 13:30CEST.

Stage 5 | Bastogne – Amnéville | 152.5km | 11:55CEST | Broadcast 13:30CEST.

Stage 6 | Remiremont – Morteau | 159.2km | 11:30CEST | Broadcast 13:30CEST.

Stage 7 | Champagnole – Le Grand-Bornand | 166.4km | 10:30CEST | Broadcast 13:00CEST.

Stage 8 | Le Grand-Bornand – Alpe D’Huez | 149.9km | 13:40CEST | Broadcast 16:20CEST.

Images: ©ASO / Thomas Maheux

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