Why was Lorena Wiebes holding a baby on the podium at the Tour de France Femmes yellow jersey presentation?

The Dutch star delivered on her tag as the favourite to overhaul Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) in a drag race to the line on the Champs-Elysees.

Wiebes clutched a baby in one arm and flowers in the other as she was presented with the yellow jersey on the podium in Paris, with confusion spreading as to who the child belonged to.

It later emerged that Wiebes had made a deal with friend and former team-mate Esther van Veen ahead of the opening stage.

They agreed that if Wiebes won yellow in Paris, she would carry Van Veen’s daughter Noortje onto the podium. Wiebes delivered on her promise, although the baby looked less than pleased to be in the spotlight…

Wiebes and Van Veen were team-mates at Park Hotel from 2018-2020.

“It’s amazing. The team did an amazing job,” Wiebes said.

“It was a really chaotic sprint and also a long sprint. I was quite relaxed before the start. We did everything as normal, we saw it as a normal race, but of course, I was quite nervous towards the end.

“It was really close but luckily I could accelerate one more time and make it to the finish line.”

Wiebes became the first rider to pull on yellow at a multi-stage women’s Tour de France since 1989.

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