'We needed everyone' - Wiebes hails SD Worx after dramatic late catch of Markus

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime) said her second victory in as many days on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes in Geneva was made “even more beautiful” after SD Worx-ProTime were pushed to the limit by Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), who almost denied the peloton after attacking inside the final 40km.

The yellow jersey’s prospects of doubling up in stage wins looked in danger as Markus held a strong advantage that breached a minute in the final run-in. The threat posed by the Lidl-Trek rider was such that both Lotte Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-ProTime) contributed to the chase. 

Markus was caught agonisingly late, inside the final 500m, and Wiebes launched her sprint with around 200m remaining. 

The yellow jersey quickly opened a trademark gap on the rest of the competition to take consecutive stage wins, with Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) ending second and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) in third. 

"It makes it for sure special," Wiebes said of winning in yellow. "But also because, again, our team, SD Worx-ProTime, works really hard for it. And the girls were chasing full gas in the final to bring back Riejanne Markus. So then it's even more beautiful to finish it off in yellow."

Wiebes acknowledged the strength of Markus, which forced SD Worx to involve both Kopecky and Van der Breggen in the chase.

"She [Markus] stayed a long time out," Wiebes said. "At one point we decided also to put Lotte [Kopecky] in the chase, because we needed everyone."

"And then I also knew that it was up to me to find my own way. I found some good wheels and could come out, I think, around 200 metres to go or something, and then I just launched my sprint."

After another commanding sprint victory, Wiebes was asked if her dominance in the bunch finishes ever becomes boring, but the Dutch rider was quick to reject the idea.

"Every sprint is quite exciting because if you make a small mistake, the sprint is over, and you cannot finish it off for the team," she said. "So for me, it's exciting every time and a bit nervous sometimes to still sprint."

Stage 3 from Geneva to Poligny features a flat finish, though it comes at the end of a day which includes over 2,400m of elevation gain. Wiebes downplayed her chances of keeping yellow.

"I think tomorrow it will be really hard to keep it, but we will do our best."