AG Insurance – Soudal to Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift

AG Insurance – Soudal to Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift

Sarah Gigante, Justine Ghekiere and Kim Le Court-Pienaar headline our squad for this prestigious race.

The biggest event of the season, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, gets underway in just a couple of days, and our team is ready to take on this fantastic nine-day journey that will see the peloton start from Vannes and conclude in the Alps.

Two days for the puncheurs will add plenty of salt and pepper to the opening weekend, before the course will bring into the spotlight the sprinters, who’ll also get two consecutive opportunities to shine. A hilly route between Chasseneuil-du-Poitou and Guéret should be the perfect chance for the breakaway to make it, especially as twenty-four hours later the medium mountain stage to Ambert promises to completely reshuffle the general classification.

Col du Granier, an 8.9km climb averaging 5.3%, is set to add more spice to the fight between the yellow jersey contenders, who’ll have its slopes and the fast descent to Chambéry to try and gain time. As if this wasn’t enough, the penultimate day puts on the table the famous Madeleine, a beast of a climb averaging 8% over 18.9km, whose relentless slopes will only widen the gaps by the time the riders will reach the top. On Sunday, Châtel Les Portes du Soleil hosts the big finale, but the fireworks will come much earlier, on the gradients of Col de Joux-Plane, one of the race’s most demanding climbs.

Best climber of last year’s edition, when she powered to a splendid solo victory in Le Grand-Bornand, newly-crowned Belgian Champion Justine Ghekiere will be back at the start of this fourth edition, taking place between 26 July-3 August. Sarah Gigante, victorious in two stages and third overall just a few weeks ago at the Giro d’Italia, and Kim Le Court-Pienaar – the Liège–Bastogne–Liège champion and first African rider to win a Monument – will also be on AG Insurance – Soudal’s roster, which will be rounded out by Shari Bossuyt, Ilse Pluimers, Julie Van de Velde and Gladys Verhulst-Wild.

“We are heading to the Tour de France with a lot of ambition and confidence. As everyone could see in the last couple of months, we’ve grown and have had some outstanding results, and we want to continue doing so here. Kim will be our rider for the general classification, but we will take it day by day and see how far we can get. She doesn’t have the experience of going for the overall, but it’s a nice challenge we’re all looking forward to.”

“The team will also feature Sarah, who comes here after an outstanding Giro d’Italia and can be at Kim’s side or go for her own chances, depending on how things unfold. It will also be a beautiful opportunity for Justine to race with her national champion jersey for the first time since winning the Belgian Nationals. Our team is a well-balanced one and that makes us motivated and determined to grab every opportunity we’ll get”, said sports manager Jolien D’hoore.