
Liane Lippert won the sprint to the line as the German cruised to victory in the second stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, who won the first stage, launched her sprint first at the end of a wet and hilly 152km route from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac.
But Lippert, 25, overtook her for the win as Kopecky finished second, with Silvia Persico in third.
“It’s so special. I’m so happy and proud of it,” Lippert said.
“I crashed twice in the neutral zone and then on the climb.
“It was a bit stressful, but the team did really well. Everyone was a big part of it. The whole team came back after the crash and stayed calm in that rain.
“I always run well in the rain, so I was happy when it started.”
Lopecky held the overall race lead and has a 49-second lead over second-placed Lippert.
The third stage is a 147.2km route from Collonges-la-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaut in the Dordogne, with the eight-stage race ending on Sunday.
Result of the second stage
1. Liane Lippert (Ger/Movistar) 4 h 13 min 43 sec
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel/SD Worx) Same time
3. Silvia Persico (Yes/United Arab Emirates Team ADQ)
4. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (SA/AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step)
5. Christina Schweinberger (Aut/Fenix-Deceuninck)
6. Cecilie Ludwig (Den/FDJ-Suez)
7. Demi Vollering (Ned/SD Worx) At the same time
8. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon SRAM Racing)
9. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar)
10. Tamara Dronova (Russian/Israel Premier Tech Roland)
General classification
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel/SD Worx) 7 hours 17 minutes 36 seconds
2. Liane Lippert (Ger/Movistar) +49s
3. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (SA/AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) +59 seconds
4. Demi Vollering (Ned/SD Worx) At the same time
5. Cecilie Ludwig (Den/FDJ-Suez)
6. Tamara Dronova (Russian/Israeli Premier Tech Roland)
7. Elisa Long Borghini (Ita/Lidl-Trek)
8. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar)
9. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon SRAM Racing)
10. Ane Santesteban (Spa/Jayco-AlUla)