Lorena Wiebes closed in on Mark Cavendish's stage victory record at the Lloyds Tour of Britain as she sprinted to an opening stage win in Cockermouth.
The Dutch Team SD Worx-Protime rider showed no fatigue as she arrived in the Lake District fresh from claiming the sprinters' jersey at the Tour de France Femmes.
Already the most successful rider in the women's edition, it marked her eighth stage win at the British UCI Women's WorldTour stage race, putting her within reach of topping Cavendish's overall Lloyds Tour of Britain record of 10 this week.
Wiebes Reflects on Challenging Stage
"We came into the race as a team looking to go for stage wins and this is a nice way to start," reflected the 27-year-old.
"After the Tour de France I had a few days off and an easy week but never know how your legs will be. I suffered quite a lot during the stage because others made it quite hard with attacks.
"But at the end it came good because the team did a good job with reacting to attacks."
Record Within Reach
Wiebes won the first and second stages at the Tour de France Femmes, which finished just 10 days prior to a testing stage in England's north-west, and defended the points classification crown to cement her pedigree as one of the women's tour's best sprinters.
This time around, she is more likely to match Cavendish's record than beat it on British shores with stages three and four in Wales far more fitting for climbers.
In that domain, Team Picnic PostNL rider Audrey De Keersmaeker earned the Queen of the Mountains jersey after stage one.
"It did not start as a goal for me today, but I saw an opportunity to go in the break to spice up the race a bit," she added.
"I took that opportunity with both hands."
Her teammate Josie Nelson finished the highest-placed Brit, crossing the line in third in the final sprint, while Belgian Fleur Moors claimed the young riders' jersey.
