Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) may have already conceded that her Tour de France Femmes GC bid was likely over a few days ago, but she was still hoping to salvage a result from this race. Unfortunately, after a punishing day on Mont Ventoux, she is still waiting for that comeback.
Despite vowing to keep going in search of success here, and many pointing to Ventoux as a long climb that might suit her abilities even if she's been struggling with the punchier efforts, it wasn't a much better day for the Frenchwoman, who was one of the first major riders to be dropped at the base of the climb.
She slid out the back of the favourites group before her teammates Femke de Vries and Marion Bunel, eventually finishing 18th on the stage, nearly 11 minutes down on winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM).
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Even if the team may have been holding on hope for something different, such a performance is not a great surprise, and there was no particularly stinging disappointment as team manager Rutger Thijssen spoke to Cyclingnews after the stage.
"We started with a plan and an idea, and that went pretty [well]. We wanted to start on the foot of Mont Ventoux, on the steepest part, with three riders, and that's what we were able to succeed in there," he said.
"Then in the end it is a very fair climb in which everybody falls where she needs to be or where she belongs at the moment. And that's what it is for today."
Ferrand-Prévot has been insistent that she doesn't necessarily feel bad in herself at this race, indeed recording a personal best 10-minute power earlier this week, but Thijssen seemed to cast some doubt on the comparison with last year.
"That's something we have to look into with the numbers, of course, if that's really the situation," he said, before explaining perhaps why the rider and team have been focusing on the positives anyway.
"On the other hand, you want to keep the morale high, so you start positive with a good mindset, and you make a plan, and you execute the plan and in the end you probably either feel the legs or not the legs that you need to have in that moment. So that's what it is, and in the end others are better, faster, stronger."
Those numbers Thijssen speaks of haven't been dissected yet, as he feels anything they might learn at this stage won't be beneficial for the rest of the race – Ferrand-Prévot's form is the result of months of training, and won't be changed overnight.
"Not yet, and there is no need to do that right now," he said about digging deeper into the data or potential problems. "We are still here for two days of racing, so we need to make a plan, that includes Pauline. Looking at last year's programme and this year's programme doesn't give us any insight for this moment, but we will do it, of course, afterwards."
As for a specific on what the team might hope or aim to get out of these last two days of racing, Thijssen wouldn't nail down one goal, saying just "A good result with the team. We always aim for the highest possible, and we'll see what that is".
On Friday, their best-placed finisher was Marion Bunel in 11th, and they have Femke de Vries looking strong, as well as an on-form Lieke Nooijen who pushed Marlen Reusser close in the time trial. So although Ferrand-Prévot's title defence has been something of a flop, the team still have good reason to stick to that positive outlook for the final two days.
"Marion did a very good climb on Mont Ventoux. We know that she can do this and as she puts her mind to something, Marion is able to do a little bit more. We are very pleased to see how she performed today, and that's the positive part of today," Thijssen said.
"We have definitely good riders, the team is good, the team is fresh, so there's no need to panic."
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