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Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) timed her attack 500 metres out from the finish line but was eventually caught by Vos with roughly 100 to go, and as the Jumbo-Visma star kicked on for the victory, it was Kool (Team DSM) who came off her wheel to claim the spoils.
Though Dygert held on for third place, it wasn’t enough to prevent Vos from overtaking her at the top of the general classification with five stages remaining.
“This is my first big win in a Grand Tour,” Kool said of her performance. “Really nice to do it on the first sprint opportunity.
“It was a hectic final, we knew that. I was almost boxed in, but luckily I found the right wheel in the end. Canyon made it a really, really long sprint, so it was a hard one.”
WATCH via SBS On Demand
Full replay: Stage 2 - La Vuelta Femenina 2023
The first road stage of the race only offered one categorised climb – the Puerto de Rebate – to the peloton, who had to navigate over 105 kilometres from Orihuela to Pilar de la Horadada.
Coralie Demay (St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93), Catalina Soto (Bizkaia Durango), Iurani Blanco (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi), and Andrea Casagranda (BePink) were involved in the day’s main breakaway but saw their advantage fall below 30 seconds with 56km to go.
Demay and Blanco were eventually caught following a fast descent into Torremendo, before a crash in the peloton saw Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), among others, sport a spot of road rash the rest of the way.
Bonus seconds from the intermediate sprint were hotly contested as a result of the day’s mostly flat terrain and it was Femke Markus (SD Worx) who took the six seconds ahead of her sister Riejanne (Jumbo-Visma) and Dygert.
Dygert continued to increase the tempo into the Puerto de Rebate climb, with subsequent attacks from teammates Kasia Niewiadoma and Elise Chabbey eventually reducing the peloton to 30 riders.
Jade Wiel (FDJ-SUEZ) was next to move, claiming the mountains points ahead of Alba Teruel (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) before the pair were reeled in for the remaining 19 kilometres.
All signs pointed towards a bunch sprint as the group approached the day’s finale and it was Dygert who was the first to attack, darting down the right side of the road and into a gap.
Vos went right after the 26-year-old, and just as she found her wheel, Kool came out of the Dutch star’s slipstream to snatch her first stage win at a Grand Tour.
Watch Stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina tonight via SBS On Demand, with LIVE coverage commencing from 11:30pm (AEST).
