Watch: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage 1 highlights

The second edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift got underway on Sunday afternoon, as the Women’s WorldTour’s finest riders tackled a 123.8km route beginning and ending in the city of Clermont-Ferrand.

After a quiet day in the saddle, the outcome of the stage would ultimately depend on the Côte de Durtol with 10km to go. Should the peloton remain together over the climb, a bunch sprint would decide the winner of stage 1 and therefore the holder of the first yellow jersey of the race. The sprinters, however, would soon find their ambitions squashed by the might of SD Worx.

Heading into the opening day with a two-pronged approach, SD Worx sought success through their versatile fast woman, Lotte Kopecky, and the purer sprinter, Lorena Wiebes. Knowing that Wiebes would be a danger woman if things came back together at the finish, SD Worx set a ferocious pace on the final climb to pre-empt an attack by Kopecky.

The work of teammates Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering was capitalised upon by the Belgian champion as the 7.1% slopes neared their conclusion, with the 27-year-old making her attack and going solo to the finish. Behind Kopecky, who claimed the stage win and the first yellow jersey of the race, a lull in the pace of the chasing group allowed more riders to return, with Wiebes and Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) sprinting to second and third place, respectively.

You can watch how it all unfolded in our highlights package above.