PHOTOGRAPHS : BERNARD PAPON / L ’ EQUIPE , BILLY CEUSTERS / ASO |
ast season , your
L victories included the Tour-Giro double , the Challenge by La Vuelta , the world road championship and Liège-Bastogne- Liège . Was 2022 the most successful year of your career ? Yes , definitely . Usually when you make a list of your goals for a new season , you secretly hope that you can achieve some of them , because hitting the bull ’ s eye on every single one of these important events doesn ’ t really seem realistic . But that ’ s what happened to me last year . Everything I dreamed of came true . I have to tell you that even today I sometimes look back at my results to make sure that it was for real . Where would you place your success in the 2022 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift within your very substantial list of honours ? Winning this race is the greatest achievement of my career . My victory had a considerable impact and went beyond our discipline . I could fully appreciate how much the yellow jersey meant to everyone . I thought that the popularity of the women ’ s version of the Tour would grow over the years , but it took off instantly . It must be said that everything , from the route to the quality of the television broadcast , was superbly organised . I think the public really got the feeling that the Tour de France was four weeks long instead of three , thanks to the fact that the women ’ s race ran immediately after the men ’ s .
With two stage victories and a gap of more than three minutes over runnerup Demi Vollering in the
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final overall classification , you gave your yellow jersey a particularly brilliant sheen . Is the way you win as important as the result ? Yes , absolutely . But that doesn ’ t mean that I ’ ll try to repeat this year what I did last July . I want to try to win again in a special way , but there are a lot of ways of doing that . I want people to have fun following women ’ s cycling and for them to remember certain race scenarios for a long time , whether it ’ s a memorable duel or a fantastic team performance .
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to the last Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift ? Winning at the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles in the yellow jersey after having a puncture
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on that stage will remain very special . I remember the kilometre between the finish and the podium ; I finally managed to relax and assess the significance of what I ’ d just achieved , and to enjoy the moment . It was a little bit like breaking out of the bubble that I ’ d been in and reconnecting with my surroundings . My boyfriend and my family were in the middle of a huge crowd that had come up this climb to watch a women ’ s race and I was moving through them wearing the yellow jersey of the first winner of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on my shoulders . I ’ ll never forget those magical moments .
This year you ’ ll start in Clermont-Ferrand wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion .
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Will this give you a special feeling ? It motivates me a little bit more to do well . To be able to pin the number one bib on a world champion ’ s jersey is a huge honour and I want to prove myself worthy of it . I ’ m really looking forward to this moment .
What do you think of the route of the 2023 edition and , in particular , of the stage that will finish at the summit of the Tourmalet ? I think the fact that the Tour de France Femmes is exploring such a mythical climb as the Tourmalet this year is a very positive move for women ’ s cycling . It ’ s one of the most iconic places in the history of our sport and this stage will certainly give the race a little more exposure . I ’ m also very happy that there ’ s an individual time trial on the route . With a high mountain stage and a time trial , a discipline in which I usually feel at ease , the route looks good on paper , but I won ’ t be able tell you for sure if it suits me as well as last year ’ s until the finish on 30 July .
You ’ ve already revealed that you ’ ll be hanging up your wheels at the end of the 2023 season . Wouldn ’ t a second Tour victory change your mind ? No , I ’ m absolutely convinced . I thought about the decision for months and I won ’ t go back on it , I can assure you . I haven ’ t set myself a list of victories to target for this final season , but I ’ m very clear in my desire to keep drawing pleasure from my bike when racing , by being an actor in the events I line up in . I believe it ’ s precisely because my driving force hasn ’ t been my results alone that I feel as fulfilled as I am with my sport at the age of 40 . ●
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2023 TOUR DE FRANCE | 25 |