Lorena Wiebes could make it two dubs in two days when the Tour de France Femmes continues with a 149-km second stage from Aigle to Geneva on Sunday.

Although the route is far from flat in its opening two-thirds, the profile is expected to favour the sprinters by the time the peloton reaches the shores of Lake Geneva for the finish.

Stage 2 Tour de France Femmes

The women roll out of Aigle before taking a string of short but punchy climbs that will definitely open up the legs. The Côte de Chexbres (3.2 km at 5.6 per cent) and Côte de Savigny (2.5 km at five per cent) come early. Later, you’ve got the climbs to Cossonay (2 km at six per cent), Côte de Bougy-Villars (900 m at 10.4 per cent) and Mont-sur-Rolle (2.3 km at 6.5 per cent). None are really that hard enough to seriously trouble the top sprinters. Still their teams need keep the race under control.

Once the final categorized climb is behind them, the road flattens out for the run into Geneva, setting the stage for a high-speed bunch finish.

Wiebes for the W?

Wiebes enters the day once as the clear rider to beat. She took a big win and the maillot jaune yesterday, and if all goes well she could probably go two for two. She has a helluva poisson pilote with Lotte Kopecky, so the Dutch star will be difficult to get past if she’s right there inside the flamme rouge.
Still, there are others that could spoil the show for Wiebes. Watch out for riders like Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo, Fenix-Deceuninck’s Charlotte Kool and EF Education-Oatly’s Noemi Rüegg. Although Visma-Lease a Bike is thinking about GC with Pauline Ferrand Prevot, maybe Sarah Van Dam can have a go at it? The Victoria rider has been riding superb all season for the Dutch team.

Canadians were active in the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes. St Michel – Préférence Home – Auber93’s Alison Jackson and Mayenne Monbana My Pie’s Kiara Lylyk were together in a group trying to bridge across to the day’s breakaway.

The top Canadian on Saturday was Isabelle Holmgren of Oro-Medonte, Ont., who spent a good chunk of the stage chasing back after suffering a mechanical.

Action is underway on FloBikes.com starting at 9:45 a.m. EDT, and Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a full report after!

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