WE ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE SEASON!

In the past weeks, I have competed in nine days of races: Classic Lorient Agglomeration in Plouay (Brittany), Simac Ladies Tour (a six-day stage race) in the Netherlands, Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart in Stuttgart and the surrounding area, and Grand Prix de Wallonie in Belgium.

These competitions marked the start of the season finale and, after a summer with a few difficulties, I hope to end 2025 with some good results and, why not, a victory that has been missing for a few months now. I believe that these nine days of racing have been very important in helping me regain a good feeling on the bike after my crash and abandon from the Tour de France. My recovery has been slightly slower than expected, which is why I lacked a bit of race rhythm in Plouay and struggled especially on the final climbs, where I was unable to stay with the leading group. In fact, I lost contact with the top twenty athletes when they attacked on the last climb, about five kilometres from the finish, and I crossed the finish line about forty seconds behind. However, I decided to try to sprint anyway, even if it was only for the backup positions, to do a sprint after a long and demanding race and accumulate this type of effort in my legs.

The Simac Ladies Tour week is always a big unknown: on paper it may seem like a very simple stage race because it is almost entirely flat, but the wind is always a determining factor and sometimes a flat race can become very tough and selective if the wind is strong and sideways for long stretches. This year, the Netherlands decided to welcome us with fairly strong winds almost every day, and the race exploded with echelons from afar and a large selection. On the first day, we started with a criterium in the centre of Leuven: what great memories! Returning to this city is always a great thrill for me because it was here that I won the World Championships in 2021! The stage ended with a good second place behind the usual Lorena Wiebes and with a solid team performance, especially in the last few kilometres with a perfect lead out. The second and third stages were challenging because the wind was really strong and, on both days, after a few kilometres, the echelons opened up, causing the group to explode. Fortunately, I always managed to stay at the front and gain important seconds for the general classification! To give you an idea of how tough those two days were, I’ll tell you that in the second stage we covered 80km in a group of eleven athletes and in the third stage, which was 160km long, after only 30km there were seventeen of us left at the front and we made it to the finish line… Never in my life had I covered so many kilometres in a breakaway!

The fourth stage was also quite windy, but the route was winding and the straight sections were never long enough to take advantage of the crosswind and make a selection. The day ended with a chaotic sprint in which I crossed the finish line in third place. The fifth stage was a 10km individual time trial, not my favourite discipline, but I gave it my all and my good performance allowed me to gain a position in the overall classification and move up to second place. Finally, in the sixth and final stage, my teammates were fantastic and thanks to their support, despite a fall (fortunately without serious consequences), we managed to take home third place in the stage and second place in the overall classification!

The Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart features an entirely hilly course. The climbs are not long, but short and suitable for explosive athletes, while the final circuit in the center of Stuttgart is very technical, full of curves and with two short but steep climbs. At the start of the race, I wasn’t feeling my best, but as the kilometers passed, I felt better and better and, thanks to the help of my precious teammates, on the last lap I managed to follow the attacks on the climb and in the last few kilometers I was in a good position and ready to play my cards, but unfortunately I was involved in a crash in the last kilometer and any hope of finishing my team’s work with a good result went up in smoke. The physical consequences of the crash were not very serious, apart from a black eye, a sore shoulder, and a few abrasions, but mentally it was not easy to look ahead and get through this period of bad luck… despite this, on Wednesday I was ready to get back in the game.

This block of races ended last Wednesday with the GP Wallonie. It was a fairly quiet race at the start, but in the last 45km it became increasingly challenging with three climbs in quick succession and the finish at the top of the Citadel of Namur: a 3km climb, first on cobblestones and only asphalt at the end. As expected, this last climb was tackled at a sustained pace with repeated attacks, and I am happy to have finished in a good third place!

Now I’m happy to be able to recharge my batteries at home for a few days and finish preparing for the last events of 2025:

• September 25-27: three days of Aigle on the track
• October 4: Giro dell’Emilia
• October 7: Tre Valli Varesine
• October 14-15-16: Tour of Chongming Island (China)
• October 19: Tour of Guanxi (China)

The goal is to finish this season with some great satisfaction and have fun!