After ending her contract with Ceratizit-WNT one year early, Cédrine Kerbaol signed a new deal with the EF-Oatly-Cannondale in 2025. The Tour de France Femmes stage winner said she expects to improve and believes she can "do big things" with the American WorldTour team.
"This team was something I was always interested in. There are a lot of strong riders here so I’m coming with expectations of doing big things with the team," Kerbaol said.
Kerbaol has spent one season with Arkea and Cofidis, in 2021 and 2022, respectively, before signing a two-year deal to race with Ceratizit-WNT in 2024 and 2025. UCI rules allowed her to terminate her contract early after the German team did not initially appear on the UCI list of license applicants for the 2025 Women's WorldTour.
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The UCI published the list of 15 teams that successfully submitted their essential documents by the deadline on October 18 but Ceratizit-WNT were not present, with the team stating that it was "purely an admin issue" and would soon be resolved. However, the delay allowed Kerbaol to activate a clause that immediately terminated her contract with the team.
Ceratizit-WNT stated that while they were disappointed in the circumstances that have led to Kerbaol's decision, they remain proud of her achievements during her time with the programme.
Kerbaol is one of the top French riders in the world and secured Ceratizit-WNT both their first and France's first Tour de France Femmes stage win when she attacked on stage 6 into Morteau. This year, she also won Vuelta CV Feminas, Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, Chrono Roland Bouge, and Tre Valli Varesine, along with multiple top-10 overall performances at Tour de France Femmes, Tour de Romandie and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
Kerbaol said she was looking forward to the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, with its Grand Départ in Brittany with stage 1 from Vannes to Plumelec and stage 2 from Brest to Quimper.
“I love the Tour de France Femmes and next year the second stage starts in my hometown. I was born in Brest so that’s a really, really big target I’m looking forward to,” she said.
While she aims to improve with EF-Oatly-Cannondale, Kerbaol said that she is an all-rounder with strengths in time trialling, breakaway and hilly races. She also said that she has learned more from losing a race than from winning one.
"There are always good things to learn from every situation. Of course, when you win a race, you see that things can work a certain way. But when you lose there is plenty to learn. What can I do better next time? What mistakes do I need to not make again? That’s how you learn so much about yourself and about who you are. I find that in this sport, you learn a lot about psychology," she said.
EF-Oatly-Cannondale's general manager, Esra Tromp, welcomed Kerbaol to the team and said she was impressed by the 23-year-old's versatility.
"Cédrine is a rider that fits with the DNA of the team. Her style of riding is exactly how we want to race. It’s exciting to watch how she will risk losing in order to give her all for a result," Tromp said.
"She is an impressive rider and still quite young. We both have big ambitions and I am confident that we will grow and achieve together. Cédrine’s strength and versatility make her the ideal rider to complete our 2025 roster."
