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After already being positioned perfectly by her team, Kool's powerful long range sprint was no match for her rivals, crossing the line with daylight as Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) took second and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) was third.
An unfortunate broken chain in the final hundred metres for Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took her out of contention in the sprint as she dropped to 41st on the stage.
Stream free On Demand
Tour De France Femmes 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
But the day belonged to Kool, who put the finishing touches on a dream day out on her home roads in the Netherlands to don the yellow jersey and lead the overall rankings by four seconds going into tomorrow's double stage.
"It's unbelievable, a dream coming true," Kool said after the stage.
"It was not an amazing season, this is what it was all about. It was really hectic and I like it! I went so early and I thought, ‘it's too long!’ It hurt so bad but it was enough in the end. There are no words!
"This is the best day of my life. There are so many people here, I saw some family and friends in the crowd, so it is a dream come true. Today I could really enjoy it on the bike and look around.
"I’m so proud to be a Dutchie and I’m so proud of this country, that so many people came and watched us. I think I’ve never seen something like this in this country before with women’s cycling. It’s a historical day."
Kool's sprint victory also gave her an early lead in the points classification, while Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) broke away solo before the only climb of the day to secure the Queen of the Mountains jersey.
The best placed Australian rider on the stage was national champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv Alula Jayco) who finished 19th, with others being caught in crashes throughout the stage including Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) and Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez).
The Tour de France Femmes continues tonight with a rare double stage, as Stage 2 sees the peloton take on a 69.7km flat stage to Rotterdam from 5:30pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand, before Stage 3's 6.3km individual time trial around Rotterdam kicks off from 11:40pm AEST.
