Annemiek van Vleuten produced another sensational ride to clinch the inaugural Tour de France Femmes title with a convincing final-stage victory.
The Dutch rider, 39, had to change her bike three times because of mechanical issues on the eighth and final stage.
But none of her rivals could live with her late attack on the hugely steep La Super Planche des Belles Filles finish.
Van Vleuten finished three minutes 48 seconds ahead of compatriot Demi Vollering in general classification.
Variations of women’s Tours have been held in the past but this year’s new eight-stage race is the first time since 1989 the event has officially been held and hosted by the men’s Tour de France organisers.
“I’m super proud to be the first winner of the Tour de France for the women,” Movistar rider Van Vleuten told Eurosport.
“To have it back on the calendar and to be the first woman to win this new version, wow – it is a milestone. I hope it’s a big start and we can build this event to a bigger event.”
Van Vleuten battled through a sickness bug that left her unable to eat for two days earlier in the week before working her way into contention and then taking the yellow jersey with a dominant ride in the mountains on stage seven on Saturday.
“That’s actually a dream come true, winning in yellow, on top – it was not an easy stage, not an easy week. It’s been a big rollercoaster for me and even today it was not easy,” she added.
“But I finished here in yellow, solo, the best way. I can finally really enjoy it. Yesterday was a really unbelievable day but I still wanted to keep the focus, didn’t want to celebrate already.
“Now I can finally go and eat ice cream and pizza tonight and celebrate without thinking about tomorrow.”
Team SD Worx rider Vollering finished 30 seconds behind Van Vleuten on the final stage, while Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma came in fourth to secure third place overall.
Vollering had the consolation of claiming the polka dot jersey for top mountains rider, while another Netherlands cyclist, Marianne Vos, took the green jersey in the points classification standings.
How the first Tour de France Femmes unfolded
The coronation of a Dutch champion was little surprise given the inaugural Tour de France Femmes had been dominated from start to finish by Netherlands riders, who won six of the eight stages.
Lorena Wiebes started that supremacy by edging out compatriot Vos in an exciting sprint finish to win the historic opening stage on the Champs-Elysees.
Fittingly, Vos – a longstanding advocate and petitioner for a women’s Tour to run in conjunction with the men’s race – won the second stage to claim the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
That 136.4km section ended the hopes of Marta Cavalli, one of the favourites for the title, who had to withdraw with a head injury after being involved in a crash, one of several during the event.
The Dutch domination was interrupted briefly with the first real climbs of the Tour as Denmark’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser, respectively, won the hillier stages three and four.
But Vos did enough to retain the yellow jersey and stretched her lead over Italy’s Silvia Persico and Niewiadoma to 30 seconds by the end of stage six after she and Wiebes both recorded their second stage victories of the event.
At that point, Vos had finished in the top five on every stage but Van Vleuten was emerging as a credible rival after recovering from her bout of illness.
She still sat eighth ahead of the seventh and penultimate stage but a fantastic ride, in which Van Vleuten finished three minutes 26 seconds ahead of the field, catapulted her top of the general classification.
Vos finished 24 minutes adrift of Van Vleuten to drop dramatically out of contention as Vollering, who had also steadily climbed the standings throughout the week, moved second.
However, the cushion of three minutes 14 seconds that Van Vleuten established over her younger rival proved far too much for Vollering – or, indeed, any of the field – to overcome.
Stage eight results
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar Team Women) 3hrs 37mins 23secs
2. Demi Vollering (Ned/Team SD Worx) +30secs
3. Silvia Persico (Ita/Valcar – Travel & Service) +1min 43secs
4. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon-Sram Racing) +1min 52secs
5. Juliette Labous (Fra/Team DSM) +1min 56secs
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/Trek Segafredo) +2mins 1sec
7. Veronica Ewers (USA/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +2mins 13secs
8. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/FDJ Suez Futuroscope) +2mins 50secs
9. Mavi Garcia (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +2mins 59secs
10. Liane Lippert (Ger/Team DSM) +3mins 1sec
General classification
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar Team Women) 26hrs 55mins 44secs
2. Demi Vollering (Ned/Team SD Worx) +3mins 48secs
3. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon-Sram Racing) +6mins 35secs
4. Juliette Labous (Fra/Team DSM) +7mins 28secs
5. Silvia Persico (Ita/Valcar – Travel & Service) +8mins
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/Trek Segafredo) +8mins 26secs
7. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/FDJ Suez Futuroscope) +8mins 59secs
8. Evita Muzic (Fra/FDJ Suez Futuroscope) +13mins 54secs
9. Veronica Ewers (USA/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +15mins 5secs
10. Mavi Garcia (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +15mins 15secs
