Vos took no joy in passing Ferrand-Prévot at the line: "It felt bittersweet"

In the flash interview, Vos talked about the stage, which was only 78 kilometers long. “It was a short stage, so we knew it would be very nervous,” said the former world champion. “The peloton was quite spread out, but you could still feel the nerves. As a team, we wanted to do a lead-out for the final descent to keep both Pauline and me in a good position. The girls did a fantastic job.”

Ferrand-Prévot seemed to be heading for victory on day 1. "Pauline opened up a gap with about 500 meters to go. She had an excellent lead. At that moment, I looked behind me to see who was coming. I saw Kim Le Court approaching. She had a really good sprint, so I went with her. I wasn't sure if Pauline would make it to the finish line, but in the end, I saw her fall behind. Then I had to battle it out with Le Court, which was a bit bittersweet. But I'm thrilled that we won as a team."

Vos is a team player and didn't really want to chase after her French teammate. “If Pauline had stayed ahead, that would have been great, too. We're here as a team, and to start like this is fantastic.” The Dutch rider has already won everything, but she is still over the moon with a victory in the Tour. “This one is very special. It's the Tour de France, and the first day: you can't really describe what that means. It's a bonus to take the yellow jersey, although I wasn't thinking about that before the start of the stage. I'm very grateful to the team, and especially to Pauline, on the final climb.”

Without Ferrand-Prévot, Vos might not have won. The Frenchwoman repaid her teammate for a victory earlier in the year. ‘I'm so happy for her because she helped me win in Roubaix,’ the all-rounder told Eurosport. “Today we went for her, but I found myself in the lead on the final climb. Suddenly, I had a gap. I thought, 'What should I do?' So I just kept riding until the end. It was better for Marianne to have a long sprint, not a few short accelerations. It was a perfect day for us.”

The Tour de France has started perfectly for Visma | Lease a Bike, who not only have the victory and the yellow jersey, but also managed to avoid the chaos of the first stage and are in an excellent position in the GC. “We knew it would be a short, fast race, so we wanted to stay at the front to save energy and avoid crashes. The girls did that brilliantly. It was very good, I enjoyed it.”