Sarah Gigante’s 2025 season was a roller coaster, to say the least.The Australian climber delivered some incredible uphill rides of the year in a breakout season.
But then, disaster struck. A training crash in August left her with a broken femur, ruling her out of the UCI road world championships in Rwanda. The hilly course would have suited her–much like it did the winner, Magdeleine Vallières-Mill.
Rather than viewing the year purely through the lens of bad luck, Gigante has treated it as a chance to assess where she still needs to grow. One area that has drawn repeated attention is her descending, a topic she addressed candidly on the Domestique Hotseat podcast, as reported by Cyclingtodate.
According to Gigante, a lack of consistent racing has played a major role. She explained that she rarely gets the opportunity to descend long mountain passes in large groups, noting that frequent interruptions to her seasons have left her short on real-world experience. In her words, even after several years as a professional, extended breaks from competition can leave any rider feeling out of practice.
She also highlighted more practical factors, particularly equipment. Gigante admitted she hadn’t fully appreciated how different race setups can feel, especially when switching from smaller training wheels at home to deep-section wheels used in competition. Getting comfortable with that change, she suggested, is part of the learning curve.
Work with her AG Insurance – Soudal team after the Tour de Suisse Women helped address specific issues ahead of the Giro d’Italia Donne, where she went on to finish third overall. “I was not able to reach my brakes properly in the drops,” she said. “So I think that’s something we adjusted after the Tour de Suisse and before the Giro d’Italia, and I already felt like that made a huge difference.”
But then there was the Tour de France Femmes. The final stage saw her drop out of the podium. “I was dropped quickly in the technical and long parts,” Gigante told Sporza. “I didn’t feel that strong already, so it became a super tough, lonely day.”
Success, however, brought unwanted attention. After winning two Giro stages, she became a higher-profile target for trolls during the Tour de France Femmes.
The pro cyclist received a bunch of nasty messages about her descending. Still, Gigante remains positive, saying that increased scrutiny is part of women’s cycling’s rapid growth.
“The coverage that women’s cycling is getting is so amazing. And it just keeps rowing and growing,” she said. “But of course, that means that you get some of the downsides that come with more publicity. So yeah, I will take it for the team.
Gigante is riding once again with AG Insurance – Soudal Team for 2026. It will be interesting to see how she fares in the Grand Tours next year. She’s got the uphill part down pat–she just needs to nail going down.