'I was thinking of retirement' - García scores surprise Tour win
Kim Le Court moved into yellow on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes in Quimper, but the day belonged to Mavi García, whose smart attack with 9km to go led her to the biggest victory of her career.
Mavi García’s travails over the past year or so had left the 41-year-old contemplating retirement but the Spaniard will surely be minded to put those thoughts on hold after her dramatic victory on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes in Quimper.
The Liv Alula Jayco rider attacked alone 9km from home on the punchy finishing circuit, measured her effort smartly on the climb of Côte du Chemin de Trohéir and then held off the favourites on the final kick to the line to win by two seconds from Lorena Wiebes.
“I still can’t believe it,” García said. “I’ve had a very difficult year and this gives me life. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I started to think that it was time to consider retiring because I wasn’t enjoying myself, but this gives me a huge boost of energy.”
The win was García’s first since the Vuelta Andalucía last year and the biggest of her career to date. She was prominent at the Tour de Suisse in June, even if her efforts never came close to netting her a win, and she was outsprinted for gold at the Spanish Championships in June.
“This means a lot because I’ve had really hard times in the last year, and now I feel it’s different,” García said. “This is more motivation for me, and now I believe more. In training, I was really good, but in races, the results didn’t arrive, and neither did the good feeling. I had a lot of crashes, and a lot of things happen, so this victory is really good.”
García’s teammate Silke Smulders was one of the day’s chief aggressors, locked in a battle for mountain points with Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez). When they were swept up, García sensed her opportunity, punching clear with 9km to go and then holding off the favourites for victory.
“It was really good for the team because Silke was going for the QoM and she was in the front for a long time,” García said. “Then the plan was for me to attack when the peloton caught Silke. I felt it was my moment, so I said I’d try and I’d see. And then in the final, I did it. I didn’t believe it until the last five metres, when I turned around and looked.”
