Undoubtedly the breakout star of this year's Tour de France Femmes so far, back-to-back stage wins for Maëva Squiban have launched her to overnight fame not just within the cycling world, but across the entire nation of France as well.
The UAE Team ADQ rider claimed her first success at WorldTour level with just the third professional victory of her career on stage 6, as she went solo with an attack from the peloton on the Col du Chansert with 32.3km to go, before holding off the peloton all the way to the finish in Ambert.
The following day, on stage 7, Squiban went up the road in the early breakaway before making her move on the Col du Granier, dropping the rest of her breakaway companions to go solo with 20km to go. From there, it was a rinse and repeat of the previous day, as she held her advantage over the peloton on the descent to Chambéry to take another emphatic stage win.
"Winning once at the Tour is already enormous. A second victory today, frankly, I'm at more of a loss for words than yesterday. I said for a laugh yesterday that I'd attack at kilometre zero. I actually did it in the end, but really it was just a joke. It's just incredible," Squiban said in her post-race interview after stage 7.
Her incredible performances have garnered her plenty of support across France, including from Emmanuel Macron himself, who was keen to offer his congratulations on Friday evening. In a post on X, the French president wrote, "Two consecutive victories for Maëva Squiban at the Tour de France! Bravo for this exceptional performance, which shines a light on French cycling. The country is behind you!"
Despite falling out of GC contention early on in the race with major time losses in the opening two stages, the French rider's victories have catapulted her up the standings into 16th overall. If she continues to climb in the same manner that she has done over the last two days, then she could definitely be a contender for a top-10 finish come the end of the race.
She has also put herself in contention for the polka-dot jersey, as she currently sits in second place in the mountains classification, trailing the current leader, Elise Chabbey, by just 12 points going into stage 8 to the Col de la Madeleine, which marks the queen stage and the only mountaintop finish of the race.
Having shown such remarkable talent so far this week, we could be seeing the emergence of a future Tour de France contender, as Squiban certainly has the climbing and descending ability to compete with many of the world's best riders.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Tour de France Femmes coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. Find out more.
