Riders and teams fighting on the face of adversity have always been one of the hallmarks of the Tour de France, and it has been no different at this year’s Tour de France Femmes.
On day two, Breton rider Marie-Morgane Le Deunff, called up the day before the race, raced for 70km alone on home roads in Brittany, only to miss the time cut.
Back in Guerét, Alison Avoine burst into tears after just making it to the line, having crashed earlier in the race. And as the race hit the Alps, Chloé Dygert was equally emotional after reaching the top of the Col de la Madeleine with 11 seconds to spare.
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Few teams, however, have faced as much adversity as the Norwegian squad Uno-X Mobility. The team had been left with just three riders since stage 6 following a crash involving three of their riders, Katrine Aalerud, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, and Mie Bjøndahl Ottestad.
Aalerud suffered a suspected concussion, while Ottestad broke her elbow. On stage 8, meanwhile, one-third of their remaining team, Susanne Andersen, left the race having also crashed during the Tour on top of inflammation she was already suffering.
The Norwegian left the race atop the Col de la Madeleine, having battled to the top only to finish 17 minutes outside the time cut of 45:18.
“I’ve been struggling for a few days. Everything was just adding up,” she told Velo at the top of the mountain.
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“I am just not able to push anymore like I really want to. I really tried my best, but this is just the maximum I can do at the moment.
“Already at the bottom, I knew how far behind I was, but due to my own self-respect, but also to the team, I didn’t want to give up without giving it my all to the finish line, and that’s what I tried to do.”
The team started the final stage, another challenging day featuring 2,820 metres of climbing on the road to Châtel, with just Swiss racer Linda Zanetti and Dutchwoman Teuntje Beekhuis left of their original team.
“I think we started really well into the Tour. We were in a really good position with Katrina sitting nicely in GC and also having that goal of top 10 in GC,” Uno-X Mobility directeur sportif Anna Badegruber told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 8 in Chambéry.
“It’s obviously not the position we wanted to be in and we hoped for and prepared for, but we’re trying to make the best out of it. We’ll keep the spirits and keep fighting until the end.”
The team at least had their spirits lifted by the presence of a large fan club on the penultimate stage, a bus full of people cheering on the remnants of their squad.
“It’s nice. It keeps the spirits high,” Badegruber said. “It’s nice motivation, some pushing on the climbs for them as well, if they see them cheering.
“It also shows the team and sponsors, and if we are maybe having a rough day and going through it, we still keep pushing, and we are still supportive of the whole team and the riders here.”
Linda Zanetti warms up alongside team manager Thor Hushovd ahead of the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images)
Neither rider left in the race are climbers, Zanetti admitted, meaning the closing two stages of the race in the Alps have hardly been suited to their strengths, either.
They weren’t troubled by the time cut on the Madeleine though, both finishing in the gruppetto nine minutes inside the limit.
“It’s completely different and it’s not really nice,” Zanetti told Cyclingnews of their experience of riding with so few teammates. “The goal is just to finish.
“It’s been really tough for us. We tried our best. The climbs are not our strength, so it was really hard for us. We tried to make it to the finish as best as possible.”
Badegruber admitted that her remaining riders – both debutants at the Tour, by the way –had switched focus to making breaks and just getting to the finish of the race.
Zanetti grabbed a top-10 in Poitiers earlier this week, but, following such a challenging race, you sense that the team will just be happy to make it to Châtel on Sunday evening.
“For them, the focus completely shifted now on going into breakaways, making the most out of the race, for themselves, for the team, putting ourselves out there and just keep fighting through,” Badegruber said.
“It’s about making the most out of it, trying to enjoy it as much as they can, and getting to the line.”
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