Two-time points classification winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) has been in Brittany for a few days already as she is ready for an 'explosive' start for the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday.
Once the flag drops in Vannes for stage 1, she'll begin her quest for a third stage victory at the Grand Tour, but more importantly as she pointed out, a first GC title for her Visma squad in a fourth appearance.
"The green jersey, of course, winning that was great, but this year that's not the main target with the team. We have a mission with Pauline [Ferrand-Prévot] as our GC rider. We're looking for a good classification with her," Vos told a group of media, including Cyclingnews, on a virtual press conference Wednesday.
"We want to see what Pauline can do in the general classification. Of course, it's her first time in the Tour de France. And next to that, we're gonna see if there are stages which bring opportunities for the stage win. I'm here to do well and to support the team where possible, and to look for opportunities in the stages."
In the lead to the third Grand Tour of the season, Vos scored four podiums, two of those stage wins, and a third consecutive points classification title at the Vuelta España Femenina then finished second on stage 5 at the Giro d'Italia Women.
She did not take the start of the penultimate day of racing two days later, the team stating "she wasn't fully fit", and Vos said today she was rested and ready for the Tour.
"I came into the Giro after a crash in the Nationals. Unfortunately, it didn't seem too bad, some bruises, but in the end it took a little bit more time to recover than I had until the Giro," she said about going down in a crash at the Dutch road race championship in the final kilometres, finishing one spot off the podium.
"Then in the Giro, I wasn't 100 percent fit. Together with the team, they decided to end it a little earlier, to focus on the Tour de France. So after a couple of days of rest, I felt fit and fresh again and able to train well.
"I've been in France, in Brittany, for the last couple of days to do some recons of the stages. I feel good. I'm excited about getting the race started," she told reporters on the video conference.
The first of nine stages is the shortest, at 79km from the port city of Vannes to Plumelec, where the final circuits leads across the climb of the Côte de Cadoudal three times on Saturday.
"We have a hard opening weekend already, with two lumpy, or I can say, tough stages. All the team leaders will say we have to be in front," she said with a short laugh.
"The first stage is pretty short, which makes it also very explosive. It's a bit twisty, sometimes narrow, it's up and down. It makes it very interesting. Of course, all the teams and all the riders are probably as excited as I am, so you're gonna feel the nerves in the bunch.
"I've raced in this area before and it's always made for attractive racing, attacks. It's hard to control these kinds of routes."
At the start line, Vos will have been at all four editions of the Tour de France Femmes. Paris-Roubaix champion Ferrand-Prévot, even though the team leader and an accomplished veteran, makes her debut at the French Grand Tour, which is one of the reasons she moved back to road racing from mountain bike racing this year.
"We rode together at Team Rabobank and happy to have her back. Since the winter, since we first came together with the team, she's fit in the team really well. She's very kind and very generous.
"Obviously, the Spring Classics were outstanding, beyond expectation. Now for a stage race, that's a different role. We're all in the team very happy to have her. We're going to see what we can do," Vos said about her team leader.
And Ferrand-Prévot wasn't the only one putting up top results on the spring, as Vos was second at Gent-Wevelgem and seventh at Strade Bianche Donne.
Now her attention is fully on stage racing, where she will not just be facing top individual GC riders and sprinters, but teams with depth in the fourth edition of the French race.
"What we have seen from FDJ is that they're really, really strong. And they bring firepower to the Tour de France. What we've also seen is that there is strength in the teams, spread through the peloton. It's going to be very interesting to see throughout the week," she said about the competition.
"Already every town has the Tour de France Femmes signs and everything in celebration of the Tour de France Femmes. It's going to be hard. It suits for a very attractive opening weekend, I expect fireworks."
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