Stage 6

171| Julia BORGSTRÖM

“A major goal and a dream come true”

Julia Borgström: "For us, a young team, taking the white jersey was a major goal, and personally it was a dream. So it’s a dream come true. We fought with the team to keep me in front and to keep me calm and relax so that I can be able to push my limits on the climbs, and that’s what we did. It gives me a little bit more motivation for the big mountains ! I don’t know if I’m a climber, I think I’m more an allrounder but I’ve never done this mountains in a race, so we’ll see !"

Stage 6

161| Femke GERRITSE

"I’m riding the queen stage with the polka-dot jersey!"

Femke Gerritse: "I hoped to wear it on the queen stage… But it was a really hard day. I took one point on the first climb and that saved me. They went so fast on the next climb! And between the two climbs, the break went and there was nobody that really had points and that was a good thing because my legs are getting tired. I’ve never done climbs so long [as those of stage 7] in races so I really have no idea what to expect. But I will enjoy tomorrow, I’m riding the queen stage with the polka-dot jersey! I don’t know if they’ll let me go in...

Stage 6

41| Marianne VOS

"More than a dream come true"

Marianne Vos: "Winning on Monday was something special but we’ve been aiming for a second stage victory with the team. We had a perfect scenario with Anna Henderson in the breakaway, but the peloton controlled. The rest of the team got me through the stage safe, well positioned and without spending too much energy. Monday was a really magical moment, and now, winning again, with the yellow jersey, there’s not much more I could wish for. Going into the final week-end with the yellow jersey is actually more than a dream come true. Looking at the profiles of tomorrow...

Stage 5

113| Victoire BERTEAU

Berteau: "150km of pleasure"

Victoire Berteau: "I really gave everything, I have no regrets. It was 150 km of pleasure, and everywhere on the side of the road people were saying: ‘Allez Victoire.’ And that motivated me even more. I wanted to make the breakaway even though I knew it was going to be a sprint, but now I define myself more as an attacker so it's stages like that that might suit me better than a bunch sprint. The DS told me: ‘Today you can take your chance in the breakaway, it can go to the end.’ I had time to believe in it. But when Trek moved, they were not gifting...

Stage 5

161| Femke GERRITSE

"The dream is to wear the polka-dot jersey on the Grand Ballon"

Femke Gerritse: “I hoped I would be in the break and take some points but they didn’t let me. After the first climb I knew I still had the jersey tomorrow so it was celebration time! Today I received more congratulations from the peloton because yesterday was chaotic. Today was easier so they came to me, they told me: ‘It looks good on you’. The dream is to wear it on Saturday, because then you can ride the Grand Ballon with this jersey. That would be very nice.”

Stage 5

41| Marianne VOS

"With the yellow jersey, you want to give it all you have"

Marianne Vos: "The sprint went pretty well. We wanted to be in the front in the final u-turn with 1.7km to go. We knew that was going to be very important and we wanted to stay out of trouble. There was a bit of confusion when Elisa Longo Borghini went left but luckily things went well and when Lorena Wiebes opened up her sprint, she was just the fastest. We did what we could, getting 3rd and keeping yellow, it's a good day. I expect some fireworks tomorrow, but we’ve seen that every day. We’ll try do our best again and of course with the yellow jersey you want...

Stage 5

56| Lorena WIEBES

"Maybe the last opportunity for me"

Lorena Wiebes: "It was a pretty chaotic finale. We aimed for the u-turn with 1.7km to go and Pfeiffer [Georgi] brought me safe to the good wheels. We had a lot of speed into that corner and I lost my back wheel a bit but I could hold my bike, I was still in a good position out of the corner and then I was able to react to the girls coming from behind and to ride the sprint as I wanted to. I think it was the longest race I ever did. If you add up the neutral, it’s almost 180km, I didn’t even do that in training. The team took great control and Franziska Koch did...

Stage 4

161| Femke GERRITSE

Gerritse: "I have to give Mischa a kiss tonight!"

Femke Gerritse: "I’m lucky now ! I have to thank my teammate Mischa [Bredewold] because she took points in the first group so I have to give her a kiss tonight I think! She beat Elise Chabbey, really? Oh, that’s really nice, I didn’t know! Tomorrow, it should be easier to keep the jersey, there is only two sprints and they are less steep than today. So we’ll try again to gain some points. I did enjoy today. When I was dropped I was like: 'Oh, sh… !' But yes it was a nice parcours, and I enjoyed it in this jersey. On every mountain there...

Stage 4

41| Marianne VOS

"Gravel is great when you’re at the front"

Marianne Vos: "Looking back at today, we’ve been quite safe with the team, we tried to stay in the right position, to stay in contention for the win as well but when Reusser attacked it was a very strong moment and then we also knew that it’s difficult to cover everything. And to keep the yellow jersey is a very nice thing. It’s a good day. Gravel is great when you’re at the front, and much less enjoyable when you’re further back. I really enjoyed today also with the spectators along the course again. The team kept me out of trouble the...

Stage 4

25| Marlen REUSSER

Reusser: "We did it!"

Marlen Reusser (SD Worx): “We did it! The team had a plan to make it a hard race and to not let it come down to an easy finale. We said we would attack and one would go. Then I was lucky it was me. We have our GC leaders, we always keep them in front, but this team always has an open and aggressive strategy, so everybody is allowed to go for the win. We all work together, we help each other and we attack. I was the lucky one. I’m really grateful for my team and my teammates. In this Tour, every day is hard, at least for me every day was hard. This stage suits...