April Tacey stuns field to win Stage 1 of the Virtual Tour de France

Tacey timed her power-up to perfection, easing past Chloe Dygert, who dropped to fifth, with Kristin Faulkner (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) in second and Chantal Van den Broeck-Blaak (Boels Dolmans) making up the digital podium.

"I just can't believe it. I am just so excited; I'm so happy," a delighted Tacey said after the race.

Dygert, the world time trial champion, headed a whittled down group of riders as they took on the fourth and final lap of the 9.1km stage and Van den Broek – Blaak made the first move, using her invisibility power-up with 2.5km to go.

However, Magnaldi managed to bring her back as the riders crested the final climb and Dygert was at the point of the lead group with 300m of the race to go. Yet, the American had mis-timed her use of the power-up, allowing Tacey to steal in to claim a stunning winning.