‘Lost for words’ UAE on cloud nine after Squiban’s stage win

Maeva Squiban’s brilliant win on stage six of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was just what the team had gone to France for, but after a difficult opening few stages, it came as a huge relief.

After her win at the Giro d’Italia Women early in July, Elisa Longo Borghini was always the team’s leader, but even on day one she seemed out of sorts. It was the same the next day, and the Italian champion was unable to start stage three, suffering with sickness.

Then in the two following days they lost Eleonora Gasparrini and Karlijn Swinkels - the former a punchy sprinter, the latter a punchy climber. However, despite the losses, things had been quietly on the up for UAE. First there was Lara Gillespie’s third place in the bunch kick at the end of day four in Poitiers. Then came Squiban’s heroic ride on Thursday.

The young French rider attacked 30km out, just short of the top of the day’s final classified climb, taking a minute’s lead in the blink of an eye. Her descent was a thing to behold, the gap going out slightly, then even more on the 5km climb to the day’s bonus second sprint. In the end, the 23-year-old held off the GC group to take a first WorldTour win, 1:13 ahead of the chasers.

“We’re just delighted, almost lost for words. I think it will sink in when we get to the hotel. You know, we'll celebrate together, and we'll try and do something special before the race ends again,” the team’s lead sports director Cherie Pridham told Domestique.

“The whole team has worked so hard this year to raise the level of the team and just show what we're capable of. But I mean, more credit to the girls - they really wanted to keep fighting. I'd like to think we're not finished yet.

“We always had the ambition to come here for stage wins, after a very successful Giro, and we were super motivated. It was unfortunate for us that we've had some bad luck. Some of the girls picked up a stomach virus, which we've had to battle through. But nonetheless, the girls are actually super motivated.”

Squiban joined UAE Team ADQ this year, the team having spotted her at last year’s Tour, where she bagged a second place on the mountain stage to Le Grand Bornand. “We knew she could climb, she’s young and full of potential,” Pridham added, explaining how Squiban’s attack followed the team’s plan for the day.

“We spoke about looking for an opportunity. As a climber, you need to look at the dynamic of the race, GC riders watching each other. We put a rider in the early breakaway with Brodie Chapman, and it was a very strong breakaway – it could have gone all the way.

The attack was planned, but it's credit to the girls, racing on instinct and finding the right moment. And that's exactly what we said to Maeva this morning: just take your chance.”

She did, and behind her, Dominika Włodarczyk finished fifth on the stage and now sits 12th overall, giving the team even more confidence going into the final three days.

Another chance could come as soon as tomorrow, with the stage between Bourg-en-Bresse and Chambéry looking good for a breakaway.

“It’s got breakaway written all over it,” Pridham said. “It’s an interesting stage - that long downhill into Chambéry - it could be an opportunity for the GC as well to get rid of some of the real small climbers.”