Tour de France Femmes: the story about Lorena Wiebes’ podium baby
First yellow jersey winner of the women’s Tour stood atop the podium with a surprise baby. Here's why.
It all started with a bet. Team DSM soigneur Teun Goedhart was convinced their star sprinter, Lorena Wiebes, would be the first wearer of the yellow women’s Tour de France jersey in 33 years. The course along the Champs-Élysées was made for the sprinters, and couldn’t be more perfect for Wiebes and her DSM leadout train.
Eyeing the stage, Wiebes was well-aware she was entering as an outright stage favorite and she, too, knew it was hers to lose. She even painted her nails in the colors of the two jersey that she said matter most: green and yellow.
The black-and-blue jerseys of the DSM riders were nowhere to be seen all race long. Staying out of the wind and safe from any crashes. But as the race rounded the final righthand bend on the cobbles, there they were, delivering their sprinter near the front in the perfect position, near Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma).
The legendary Dutchwoman starting her sprint early, and Wiebes was forced to counter. As she accelerated over the top of her compatriot, Vos had run out of steam and out of time. Wiebes won by half a bike length.
At the finish, Goedhart and his partner, Wiebes’ former Parkhotel Valkenburg teammate Esther van Veen found their friend quickly. Apparently, they’d been ready.
“I didn’t realize they could get so close,” Wiebes said in the post-race press conference. But there was no getting out from under the bet.
And so, Wiebes was zipped in her yellow jersey, and baby Noortje was trusted into her arms.
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“No, no it is not mine,” a smiling Wiebes reassured. “It would not be possible for me to race. It was just a bet.”
The second stage between Meaux and Provins features another flat profile and could very well end in another sprint, and an opportunity for Wiebes to not only hold on to the yellow jersey, but perhaps even go for a second stage win. There is, however, a bit of an uphill to the line, which could shake things up.
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Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.
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