A Tour de France Femmes stage win would be a dream for Frenchwoman Audrey Cordon-Ragot, but the Trek-Segafredo rider is clear that the team’s overarching goals are her priority.
Cordon-Ragot’s main responsibility will be to help Elisa Balsamo win the first stage in Paris, and then support the likes of Balsamo and Elisa Longo Borghini throughout the race as they target stage and classification wins.
“Of course, I’m dreaming about a stage, that would be amazing,” she told Cyclingnews. “But I know that with the team we have it’s going to be difficult, because I really hope we take the yellow jersey on the first stage, and then we have to defend it.
“So I will be working for the team and hopefully Elisa Balsamo will get it on the Champs-Élysées, that’s the goal. I hope the team will do well, that we can wear the yellow jersey, that we can win stages. And then I will see and if I do have a chance, of course, I will try to take it.”
With multiple stages across the Tour that look suited to breakaways or opportunistic riders, there may well be chances for the 32-year-old, but she says her ambitions sit “next to” the team’s plan to win a jersey and stages.
“Of course, if it’s with me, it’s wonderful,” she said. “But I do have to think first about the team before thinking about me.”
Trek-Segafredo already have their eyes on stage 4’s gravel roads, where team support from riders like Cordon-Ragot will be key on what could prove a decisive day.
“This is one of the nicest stages for the team we have,” she said. “So let’s see how we can manage to play it and how we can do it to take time on the stage. For sure it’s an opportunity so we must not miss it.”
Cordon-Ragot will start in Paris in the French tricolore jersey after winning both the road race and time trial last month, something she was aiming at ahead of the inaugural women’s Tour.
“For me, the goal was really to take the start with the national jersey on. So I would say it’s already done, I’ve ticked it off my bucket list.”
Wearing the jersey and being one of the most well-known French riders at her home race will put the spotlight on Cordon-Ragot, but that’s a source of more enjoyment than intimidation, she said.
“I can’t say that I feel pressure, no one has put pressure on me,” she explained. “They just want me to be good and to enjoy and that’s what I’m going to do. The pressure is more on the
“I’m maybe going to be the one enjoying this Tour the most, enjoying the public and the crowds, and just being me,…
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