The second edition of the women's Tour de France started in Clermont-Ferrand. The peloton had a quiet start, although the classification teams left no room for breakaways. With ten kilometres to go, the peloton faced the Côte de Durtol, a tough 1.7-kilometre climb.

On the climb, Kopecky accelerated. The Belgian champion rode solo towards the finish. Behind her, Anna Henderson was the only Team Jumbo-Visma rider to keep up with the lead group's pace. After a difficult moment, Vos rejoined the chase, and the Dutch rider eventually sprinted to fourth place. "The peloton quickly split up because of the high pace”, Vos said. "I ended up in the third group. When Kopecky attacked, I knew winning would be difficult. She was the strongest today. In the end, it was another tough sprint against Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool. They are both very fast.”

Henderson finished 20th in the group of favourites. "Today's stage was challenging, but in the Tour, every day is tough. Tomorrow we have to climb right from the start. As a team, we want to win stages. Hopefully, we can do that in the coming days.“

Shortly after Henderson, Riejanne Markus crossed the line. The Dutchwoman lost 23 seconds to the favourites. "I stayed with the group until six hundred metres from the top”, she said during her cool-down. "It was a very short and explosive effort. I have found that the first day of a stage race is the hardest for me. My legs exploded today. That is why I fell behind in the final. Tomorrow I will try to make up for it. There will be plenty of chances.”