"My focus was to win this stage, but you never know." Mavi García of Liv AlUla Jayco shrugs with a sheepish grin. She is sitting at the long press conference table in the press centre after the conclusion of stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. There is a medal around her neck. She won.
This is the first WorldTour win for the Australian team since Ruby Roseman-Gannon's stage 4 win at the 2024 Tour of Britain. That's 414 days between victory champagne. And they did it on the biggest stage of all, the Tour de France Femmes.
In the words of Sport Director Gene Bates, "It is nice to get the first win of the season at the Tour de France."
When I saw the result, I sprinted towards the bus of my former team. I know what this means to the riders, and also the tireless staff who work behind the scenes. There won't be words for the days to come for the emotions that flood through that camp. I stepped into my old world, up the stairs of the bus and embraced the staff. They had tears aplenty. It screamed relief, and belief.
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