August 27, 2003 (La Chapelle Saint-Ursin, France) РAustralian Alison Wright (Team RRG Nobili) won the sprint to take the first stage of the Troph̩e d' Or, in the centre region of France. Wright outsprinted France's Magali Le Floc'h (RONA/Esker) and young Belarussian Volha Hayeva of team Internations 3, one of the three composite teams formed here for this race. The first 18 riders finished in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 32 seconds, at an average speed of 38.105 km/h.

The race was held on a flat course, but the winds damaged the peloton early in the race. The stage was played shortly after mid-race when an attack by Magalie Finot Laivier (Sud Ouest Interégions) and Catherine Marsal (RONA/Esker) eventually created a more than 15-strong break, which included American Heather Albert (Internations 3), German Hanka Kupfernagel, French nationals Sandrine Marcuz-Moreau, Sonia Huguet, Belgian Evy Van Damme, Russian Zoulfia Zabirova (RRG Nobili), last year's winner Tatyana Stiajkina, and Wright, Le Floc'h and Hayeva. Such a group, combining quantity and quality, created a gap that oscillated around two minutes for a while, before exploding when the main field apparently gave up and stopped chasing. They eventually finished 6 minutes and 43 behind the leaders. A brave group of four chasers Rona-Esker's Melissa Holt, E.S Gervais Lilas' Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel, Orléans-Pays-de-Loire's Elodie Touffet and Belgium's Heidi Van de Vilver battled to the end, and finished 1 minute 33 behind the winner.

Third in the stage and G.C., Hayeva is leading in the under 23 classification, and Australian Oenone Wood took the lead in the Queen of the Mountain competition by climbing first the only, very minor, difficulty of the day. “We're well-positioned in GC”, said Rona-Esker's assistant team manager Jim Williams. “We have two contenders with the same time as the leader, but we won't have to defend the jersey tomorrow. I think it bodes well for the second stage.”