Kool breezes to sprint success in blazing start

Dutch rider delights home crowd and powers to line inincident-packed opener

- Jeremy Whittle

Twenty-four hours after Harrie Lavreysen confirmed himself as the fastest sprinter in the Olympic velodrome, his compatriot Charlotte Kool continued the winning streak for the Netherlands, sprinting to victory in stage one of the Tour de France Femmes in The Hague.

In what was expected to be a three-way battle between the Dutch trio of Kool, Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes, Kool easily proved the fastest, taking both Vos, of Visma-Lease a bike, and SD Worx Protime's Wiebes by surprise to claim the first yellow jersey of this year's race. In a disorganised sprint, in which a mechanical issue put Wiebes on the back foot, Kool came across the line ahead of Uno-X Mobility's Anniina Ahtosalo and Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek.

"It's the best day of my life," Kool, riding for dsm-firmenich PostNL, said after the stage. But while the 25-year-old rider was enjoying the first day of racing in the week-long Tour, others, despite the flat nature of the course, were not.