Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) put in a heck of a fight on Mont Ventoux on stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes and while it reaped considerable rewards, in the form of two podium places, the hope had been that even more could be gained.
The French rider, after all, had been in third place just days ago after the time trial, but the fight back from ninth place after missing the stage 5 split has been far from an easy task. One spot was gained with the second place on stage 6 and two with the seventh place atop Mont Ventoux, to put Kerbaol at sixth overall – equal to her best ever finish in 2024.
Kerbaol wasn't able to keep pace with Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and Marlen Reusser (Movistar), on the climb but she found herself a place among a group of four which included the UAE Team L'IMAD duo of Elisa Longo Borghini and Paula Blasi along with Niewiadoma Phinney's teammate Antonia Niedermaier.
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"The goal was not to try to follow because it would have made a big difference of pace," said Kerbaol of the attack that put the leading trio out front. "The goal was just to pace it back which is what we nearly managed to do. It was really nice that I was with the two girls from UAE because they had to work together and the team worked at the start of the climb so I could stay out of the wind and try to keep up as long as possible.
"The others were simply stronger today. I gave my best. The team gave our best as well."
Ultimately Kerbaol finished 2:01 behind stage winner and the new wearer of the yellow jersey, Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) and just 45 seconds behind Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ).
Still, while it was a result that took her back closer to that final podium spot, the gap to close those three spots is considerable with Ruesser in third at just 39 seconds back from yellow. Kerbaol, however, is at 4:01, with Niedermaier 40 seconds in front and Longo Borghini holding fourth with an advantage of just over a minute.
“We were hoping to make more of a dent into the GC and move forward more, but we have two days left," said sports director Carmen Small in a team statement. "Stage nine is super hard so we keep going for it.”
Kerbaol, a stage winner in 2024, after all, is well aware that just because the Queen stage is over, it doesn't necessarily mean the race for the top spots overall is.
"This is the Tour; you have to fight every day. It’s a battle on every stage," said Kerbaol. "Unexpected things happen every day."
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