It was no secret that Sarah Gigante had her eyes firmly clamped on the Col de la Madeleine, with AG Insurance-Soudal going all out to make sure the Australian fronted up to the Tour de France Femmes queen stage well-positioned to turn the screws on her rivals.
Though it was little more than six months ago that she was completely off the bike as she recovered from iliac artery endofibrosis surgery, there was little doubt regarding her climbing power as the Tour de France queen stage approached – not given how emphatically she dispatched her rivals on two summit stages of the Giro d'Italia Women.
"I was definitely dreaming of winning this stage and my team really worked so hard for me, but I'm happy with second," said Gigante straight after the stage. "Pauline was just stronger. I haven't seen her, but I have to say, 'chapeau, Pauline'."
Gigante had started the GC battle when she attacked on the Col de la Madeleine, a hors catégorie-ranked climb of 8.6km at 8.1%, though Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished it.
Gigante, however, still rode away from the likes of 2023 winner Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) and defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) to take second place. The rider who started out at the Brunswick Cycling Club crossed the line at 1:45 behind Ferrand-Prévot, with New Zealand's Niamh Fisher-Black (LidlTrek) third, a further 30 seconds back, after launching from the early break and then Vollering was fourth.
It was a performance from Gigante and her team, with even the yellow jersey-clad Kim Le Court-Pienaar sacrificing herself to support the climber, that also put her in second overall with a 2:37 gap to the French stage winner. With one stage of racing to go, she is 41 seconds ahead of Vollering, who sits third on GC.
The rise of Gigante, who left Movistar at the start of 2024, has been rapid at AG Insurance-Soudal as she has clearly thrived in the environment and also been afforded considerable development opportunities and support.
"That was just such good teamwork again, like all week," said Gigante.
The efforts from Justine Ghekiere in particular were unmissable as she was a constant companion and support on the descents. She then went in the break on Saturday to be sure that she would be there for Gigante for as long as possible in the crucial final section of the stage, but the commitment was clear across the board.
"The other teams were putting us under pressure on the descent, all three of them, but yeah, thanks to the team, every single rider, I was able to get to the base of the Madeleine with the group and feeling quite fresh," said Gigante. "And then, oh my gosh, to have the yellow jersey sacrifice herself for me, that's next level. That's the kind of stuff that gives you goosebumps.
"That was completely Kim's choice," she points out. "In the meeting this morning, she just had to do her own ride to defend yellow, and just to think that she chose to change the plan and ride for me. Even before she crashed, she went back to the car, and then I noticed she was like, moving me up, waiting for me on descents.
"Just now I'm really happy. I think I was disappointed at first, but I am so happy. It's really special, and it's really just thanks to my team, and it's surreal," said Gigante, breaking up with the emotion of the moment.
The impact was perhaps magnified by just how hard the 24-year-old has had to battle to make it to this point, forging on through a career riddled with injuries, illness and other complications. It's meant she has had to master the art of recovering and rebuilding, a skill she most recently put to use after her December iliac artery endofibrosis surgery,
"I hope to have a good race tomorrow, and I'm sure my team will be wonderful as always," said Gigante, adding that she was just happy to enjoy her second place of today to Ferrand-Prévot. "To think in January, I couldn't even ride my bike at all. I was just watching, and I didn't know if the surgery would work, and then I just slowly get more and more confidence.
"In the Giro, I realised I was actually pretty strong, but yeah, obviously I have so much work to do on the descent."
That was where her rivals had most likely expected her to lose time, and Gigante herself said she would instead be 15 minutes down if it weren't for the efforts of her team. Sadly, however, she's been feeling more that the pressure of the other teams on the downhills.
"I get a lot of mean messages, even if I try not to look," said Gigante. "People message me and comment on stuff, and yeah, I mean maybe I'm not the best at descending, but to come second here, it's pretty cool. I do think I'm improving, and my team really believes in me."
It will also be incredibly hard for others not to as well, given she's standing on a podium at the Tour de France Femmes.
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