UAE’s three leaders lose ground at Tour de France Femmes as Włodarczyk hits back at media

Wednesday proved a difficult day for UAE Team L’IMAD at the Tour de France Femmes. With three riders inside the top eleven overall, the team began the hilly fifth stage from a strong position but was ultimately forced to acknowledge the superiority of the leading general-classification contenders. Sports director Cherie Pridham reflected on an eventful day with Eurosport, while Dominika Włodarczyk spoke to SBS Sports.

The Polish rider started the Tour as one of three protected leaders for the Emirati team and managed to make her way into the day’s breakaway. That left UAE in a promising tactical position, particularly because Paula Blasi and Elisa Longo Borghini were still safely positioned in the group containing the main overall contenders.

However, when Demi Vollering repeatedly increased the pressure, neither Longo Borghini nor Blasi could produce an answer. Longo Borghini in particular will have hoped for more following her encouraging individual time trial one day earlier. The Italian lost 1 minute and 43 seconds, while Blasi conceded 2 minutes and 27 seconds. Włodarczyk was eventually caught and passed by Vollering and the other favourites, but still finished fourth, 45 seconds behind the stage winner. She is now fifth overall.

Włodarczyk also struggled considerably with the extreme heat. “I don’t know if I have ever experienced something like this. I mean, I really feel like we are riding in an oven. You cannot even breathe fresh air on the downhill. You really feel the air like when you open the oven. It’s crazy.”

Following in the footsteps of Elisa Longo Borghini, the Polish rider also rejected the negative portrayal of the atmosphere inside the team. “We have actually been riding as a team since the start of the Tour. It’s just the journalists who are really trying to make drama around us. It’s really not helping at all; it’s also just hurting.”

Pridham discussed the team’s performance with Eurosport after the finish. “We knew it was going to be a hard day. Ultimately, our plan was to get Maëva and Dominika into the breakaway, so we were initially very happy with that. In the end, however, it comes down to the legs. It was an incredibly, incredibly hard day.”

“As far as the team performance is concerned, of course we would have preferred to be fighting with the first three, but the race is not over until Nice,” Pridham said. “We saw today that several major general-classification riders lost time. We continued to fight. I really have to compliment all my riders because every one of them raced in support of Elisa.”

“Dominika is also still very much in contention. She has gained some time. We spoke to her last night and said, ‘Step by step.’ The same applies to Elisa: step by step. And all credit to our young Paula as well. She completely emptied herself for the team,” the sports director concluded.