"Champion cashing in" Wiebes saw everything fail, girlfriend Vollering intervenes: "Was actually hoping for Lorena"

In a press release from SD Worx-Protime, Wiebes made her first appearance late Monday night. She was very disappointed but also responded with resignation. "I had this stage planned in my calendar for a long time. I am, therefore, very disappointed that I did not make the sprint. I was perfect, but sometimes, in a sprint, something happens. There was a crash, and I immediately felt my derailleur broken. Then, unfortunately, it was over—a missed opportunity and at a very annoying moment. When you have looked forward to a moment for months, it is human to react like that. You work very hard for months, and then you miss the win. But a new opportunity presents itself tomorrow," she said with her head already at the sprint stage, scheduled for Tuesday morning - from Dordrecht to Rotterdam.

At the NOS, we also saw a cheerful and incredibly super-motivated Wiebes. "It's going okay; it's a new day with new opportunities. My motto is: the show must go on. Of course, there was a disappointment, especially because the team worked hard. It sucks that in a good position, something happens that you do not influence. But I want to finish first in the second stage, and who knows, maybe I can take the yellow jersey in the time trial. Perhaps it will work out; I will go for it to win twice. It will be chaotic and stressful again, with more turns in the final. But I trust my lead-out, then we'll go for the top step."

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Two hours after those ambitious statements, Wiebes was already back in front of the NOS camera. After a morning ride of 68 kilometers, she looked like she would win, but Kool was surprisingly faster. Surprisingly, Wiebes was not unlucky this time and is usually quicker than her compatriot from team dsm-firmemich PostNL anyway. "I started just a little too early. The team performed very well, and you get beaten sometimes; that's how it is," she sounded pretty down-to-earth.

Wiebes, beforehand the absolute favorite for the first two stages and thus the yellow, now sees that honor go to Kool. "I felt her approaching, but you can't do much either. We were closer to finishing, but that happens in a sprint. At least I was able to sprint. We showed as a team that we take initiative; that's what it's all about. The difference was not significant. Tougher days are coming up now, and that should suit me better. I would have liked to finish, but we put down a good lead-out."

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Wiebes thus went through a roller coaster of emotions on the first two days of the Tour, especially when Vollering won the time trial on Tuesday afternoon and grabbed yellow. Wiebes herself finished seventh and thus now second behind her teammate in the standings. Vollering also experienced it from the front row as a close friend of Wiebe's and expressed her respect. "Lorena is a champion at cashing in, in my opinion. She quickly overcame it; we still had fun with the team last night. That's also nice because we know it was bad luck and could have been much worse. Luckily, that didn't happen," she said Tuesday morning before the start.

After Vollering got the yellow and the stage win, she stressed that she would rather not have won. "I was sitting here kind of hoping Lorena would blast across me, but in any case, I am very proud that this is a nice win for the team," she sounded honest and loving.

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])