“To be honest, I feel like I still didn’t have enough time to let it sink in,” she said on Sunday evening. “But finishing in the top 3 in the general classification of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is something that I’ve been dreaming of ever since I found out that we were going to have this race on our calendar. So, I’m over the moon, extremely happy and proud of my teammates.”
When recapping the race, Kasia spoke enthusiastically about the first six stages. She has not left the top three places in the GC since stage 2 when she joined an attack, taking a chance on her preferred terrain before the big mountains. However, a crash and a mechanical prevented her from going for the yellow jersey.
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“Personally, I’ve been enjoying the first couple of days,” she said. “I like explosive, punchy climbs so particularly the first six stages I would say were something that I really enjoyed, and the last two stages were more about surviving.”
Kasia prepared for ‘the survival’ in a special climbing-focused training camp and it really paid off. She was able to hold her ground in the mountains. A feat that not many might have expected.
“I think that for the most part of my career, I’ve been focusing on short, punchy efforts, something that would prepare me extremely well for the Classics,” she said. “I was never really focusing on long climbs because I was doubting my abilities to do so. Having a couple of weeks spent in the mountains where I was just preparing for this race knowing the last two stages were going to be extremely hard, I knew that with the right preparation and training, I can really improve.”
Asked if she doesn’t wish she had won a stage, she admitted to a certain level of bitterness.
“Definitely I wish that I hadn’t crashed on the third stage and that I arrived at the last kilometre more fresh and that I could fight for the victory,” she said. “I feel like that was in some ways a heartbreaking stage for me.”
We’re sure it will work out next year. Congratulations, Kasia!
