Sarah Gigante was in second place overall heading into the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after flying up the Col de la Madeleine on stage 8 to take the runner-up spot behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), though there was no easy way to keep that prized podium spot on the road to Châtel as her rivals put the pressure on early in the closing stage.
The AG Insurance-Soudal rider held on through the mid-stage HC climb of Col de Joux-Plane but couldn't keep pace with the leading group, which contained her key GC rivals, through the descent.
"It was a super hard day. I was already feeling not so strong, physically going up the Joux-Plane," Gigante told Australian broadcasters SBS after the stage. "I was hoping to get away and to have a head start for the downhill, but then actually, I was pretty much getting dropped by the top, so I knew it would be hard, because I couldn't rely on just being stronger.
"And then, of course, the descent was so hard. I was just in time trial mode from then on, just trying to limit my losses. But it was a long day out."
Gigante kept battling to the line but ultimately lost 3:53 on the stage, and overall, the toll was her podium spot. The 24-year-old Australian was down 6:40 and in sixth overall, one spot better than the seventh she delivered on debut in 2024.
"It feels like a lot better week than last year, even though it's only one place better, I think I improved a lot," said Gigante.
It was certainly a hard-fought edition of the Tour de France Femmes, and while last year she had managed to fly under the radar a little, this time AG Insurance-Soudal rider was marked out as one to watch on the climbs, given what she did at the Giro d'Italia – standing on the overall podium and also claiming two summit wins. Getting so close to making it another in France was an achievement in itself, but that didn't make it easy to watch the second spot slip away.
"I'm disappointed to lose the podium, especially when my team worked so hard and I work so hard all week," Gigante told Cyclingnews as she headed to her team bus after the stage. "It's annoying to lose it on the last day but yeah, I gave everything I could.
"I really wanted a top five at the end, but I lost that too. But yeah, I just tried my best."
Gigante ended up just 15 seconds shy of fifth place, taken by Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), and though her performance at the race and while the fairytale ending didn't materialise this year, the building blocks of one could have been built for the future.
"It makes me hungry for next year," said Gigante.
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