Dutch rider Charlotte Kool kept her head amid a chaotic bunched sprint finish to win the first stage of the women's Tour de France on Monday.

"It was really hectic but I like it. I kept on thinking 'I like hectic, I like chaos'," said the 25-year-old.

"I went so early and I thought it's too long and it hurt so bad but it was enough in the end."

Kool, born in North Holland, took the yellow jersey on home soil as the women's Tour got underway in the Netherlands with a 123-kilometre flat ride from Rotterdam to The Hague.

Topping 60kmh as she crossed the line, the Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider claimed her maiden Tour win with an unstoppable surge in the last 100 metres to complete the stage in a time of two hours 47 minutes and 40 seconds. (AFP)