EF Education-Oatly announced their seven-rider team for the upcoming Tour de France Femmes, with Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner joining world champion Magdeleine Vallieres alongside French GC hopeful Cédrine Kerbaol.
Joining the trio are climber Noemi Rüegg, who is returning to competition after crashing out of the Vuelta España Femenina with a broken arm while wearing the leader’s jersey after winning stage 1.
Henrietta Christie, Nina Berton, and Alice Towers complete the team.
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The Tour de France Femmes begins in Lausanne, Switzerland on Saturday, the first of nine stages that include a summit finish on Mont Ventoux and a punchy final stage in Nice on August 9.
The Grand Départ on her home soil is a major target for Rüegg.
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“I’m super excited to be finally back racing after three months,” Rüegg said in the team’s press release. “It’s super special to have the start of the Tour in my home country. Ever since they announced that, this has been a super big goal for me. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for cyclists to have the Tour’s start.
“And also the first two stages suit me really well, so that makes it even more exciting. I hope it brings a lot of fans to the start and inspires a lot of Swiss people to ride their bikes when they see us having fun on the bike.”
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“I think I’ve never had a proper three-month break from racing during the season, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m also a little bit nervous, I have to say, because it always feels weird to come back after such a long time. And it’s a bit of an uncertainty, like where I’m really at and will I feel comfortable in the bunch again. But mostly I’m really optimistic and really positive, just really happy to be back.”
Vallieres is also excited about the Swiss start after beginning her career racing in the region.
“It’s always special to be back racing in Switzerland – the views are like nowhere else. But to be back in the rainbow stripes, I think, will be something like a full circle moment,” Vallieres said.
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“It’s going to be something I will never forget, to be able to race the Tour, which is, for us, the biggest of the races in the season and also all the hype around it. So to be able to race it in the rainbow this year will be something I’ll never forget.
“I think all of the stages are quite good. We have someone that fits each stage quite well. I’m mostly excited about stage five and the stage in Nice, but any stages where I can try to be aggressive, I am looking forward to.”
The pink team are targeting stage wins with nine chances spread across the seven riders.
“Our main strength is that we have such a deep roster. We have a rider for many scenarios,” Towers said. “We’ve got such a deep strength in the squad. And we’re a squad that backs each other 100 per cent, so that’s definitely our strength. I can’t wait to see us all on the start line and see what we can do.”
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