'Tough and lonely day' - Gigante's Tour podium dreams fade on descent

It was a chastening conclusion to the Tour de France Femmes for Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), who saw her second-place position in the general classification slip through her fingers after being distanced from the group of general classification contenders on the descent of the Col de Joux Plane. 

"I got dropped quickly on the technical and long sections," admitted a deflated Gigante after the end of the stage in Châtel to a swarm of reporters. "I wasn't feeling very strong anyway, so it turned into a super tough, lonely day."

The Australian climber was in a precarious position at this point, isolated in no man's land, losing ground to the yellow jersey group but miles ahead of the next group on the road, which featured Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) with a long section of valley road to follow before the final categorised climb of the day.

To make matters worse for Gigante, Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//Sram zondacrypto) were part of the yellow jersey group ahead and set to rise above the Australian in the GC and had the additional help of Vollering's teammate Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez), who continued to pace, and this secured Gigante's fate. 

Despite her disappointment, Gigante found comfort in her teammate Justine Ghekiere's support after the finish of the stage. 

"Right now, I feel pain in my legs," Gigante said with a faint smile. "Although I aimed for a better place in the overall ranking, I must reflect on this positively. Of course, I'm disappointed to have missed the podium, which is what I came for, but I gave it my all," added Gigante.

Belgian champion Ghekiere, who has been one of the MVPs throughout the entire Tour, acknowledged the team's collective struggles on the day. 

"I think we all had a bad day," Ghekiere said. "After the Joux-Plane, we weren't there enough as a team for Sarah," added the Belgian.

Ghekiere described her own difficulties during the stage: "On the first climb, it was already going very hard. I had to let a gap open up and still returned. Then, on the Joux-Plane, I had to push as hard as I could because I wasn't going to survive the climb."

Despite Ghekiere's candid assessment of the team's performance, Gigante was quick to defend her teammates and praised the support shown by them throughout the race. 

"No, my team was amazing," Gigante insisted. "I just didn't have the legs to finish it off."

In the end, the Australian battled valiantly all the way to the finish line to place 7th on the stage, 3:53 behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who secured her second stage win en route to winning the general classification. In the overall standings, Gigante slipped from 2nd to 6th. 

Looking ahead, both riders remain positive about AG Insurance-Soudal's future prospects in the Tour de France Femmes after a very promising performance with stints in yellow and a stage win for Kim Le Court, as well as the strong GC showing from Gigante.

"We can be proud of our Tour. Next year, we'll return. I think everyone has seen we are no small team anymore," Gigante said. "And that podium? It will come."