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Norway’s Sigrid Haugset won stage three of the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift with a remarkable solo breakaway.<\/b><\/p>\n
Haugset of Uno X Mobility held off the challenge of Belgium’s two-time world champion Lotte Kopecky, with the SD Worx-Protime rider crossing the line one minute 24 seconds down after a gruelling 156.5km stage from Geneva in Switzerland, as the race headed into France from its Grand Depart in Lausanne.<\/p>\n
Haugset, 27, now leads by two minute and two seconds overall from AG Insurance-Soudal’s Kim le Court of Mauritius, after previous yellow jersey wearer Lorena Wiebes was dropped, as expected, with the world’s best sprinter distanced over the early climbs. <\/p>\n
On a hot day in the Jura mountains, on a stage which began with a steep category one ascent up the Col de la Faucille, the peloton soon began to shed riders. <\/p>\n
Unfancied for the win and having only ever tasted victory at the Norwegian national championships in June, Haugset launched from an original breakaway group with 113km to go in-between the second climb and the category two Col de la Savine and established a healthy lead.<\/p>\n
The far more decorated former world champion Kopecky went off in pursuit of Haugset as the stage parcours began to even out on its way to Poligny. <\/p>\n
Kopecky, 30, made it to within about 15 seconds of Haugset, but as the crosswinds picked up across the harvested fields of Arbois, the three-time Tour of Flanders winner lost 30 seconds and eventually conceded.<\/p>\n
In what has become a memorable summer for Norwegian sport after the football team reached the World Cup quarter-finals and Torstein Traeen wore the yellow jersey for two stages at the men’s Tour, Haugset said: “I never thought it was possible. It’s unreal. <\/p>\n
“When I went I thought: ‘Yeah [Kopecky] will catch me – shall I drop down to her? Second is good.’ <\/p>\n
“But I kept on going and the [team service] car was amazing, pushing me on. I was thinking about all my team-mates and everyone cheering from home, and thought I had to give it all. <\/p>\n
“I can’t believe she didn’t catch me. I was so dizzy at the end – I couldn’t lift my arms off the bike.”<\/p>\n
Many of the favourites for the overall yellow jersey in Paris in six days’ time made it over the line two minutes 48 seconds after Kopecky in a reduced peloton which contained the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France and Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland. <\/p>\n
Despite Haugset’s healthy lead in the general classification she is expected to fall away once the race hits the mountains, while the favourites sit within a few seconds of one another on the general classification.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n