CERATIZIT-WNT dominate the inaugural Tour de Normandie Femmes

CERATIZIT-WNT win Stage 2, Best Team, General Classification, Best French Rider, Best Young Rider and Best Climber after a dominant team performance.

The final stage of the Tour de Normandie saw Cédrine Kerbaol lead the general classification by just four seconds over her compatriots Gladys Verhulst (FDJ Suez) and Audrey Cordon-Ragot (ZAAF). With two sprints giving a potential six bonus seconds on the route, and even more available on the finish line, defending the leader's jersey was going to be a team effort and a big challenge. One the team was ready for. After all, we already had the best climber competition under control with Nina Berton.

Approaching the first bonus sprint, Sandra Alonso and Laura Asencio took turns to attack while Kathrin Schweinberger and Berton protected Kerbaol. A creative approach to bring a sense of chaos to the peloton, giving the other teams no time to prepare their leadout and forcing them to chase. The result? No bonus seconds in the first sprint for Verhulst. Kerbaol still leads by four seconds.

For the next sprint, the peloton was already wise to the tactic, so we switched it up a little. Let Verhulst try, but Kerbaol was to go with her to limit the damage. It almost worked. Kerbaol crossed the line in fourth position taking no bonus seconds. Verhulst took full points. Three seconds. Going into the finish, Kerbaol only had a one-second advantage.

The finishing circuit was short. A series of town centre sprints, almost like a criterium, and the team had given their all, riding aggressively and defensively throughout the stage. Now, the final result relied on us getting some good luck. The girls made sure Kerbaol was well positioned but were unable to contest the sprint. A nervous wait after the line followed as Verhulst had sprinted, but the result wasn't clear. 

Surrounded by cameras, the news finally came through. "Verhulst fourth. Kerbaol wins the GC of the first Tour de Normandie Femmes by one second."

Cédrine Kerbaol: "Today the goal was to the keep the jersey and we knew it was going to be difficult because Gladys and Audrey are good sprinters. We knew they would try for the bonus sprints, so we had to try to make sure they didn't get any seconds. We tried to create a breakaway or let girls who weren't a threat go and the team did a crazy job. They followed every move and tried to create breaks so the race was really hard. We made Audrey and Gladys work, so they didn't get any seconds on the first sprint. After the next sprint, I knew Gladys was only one second behind so we had to wait and see after the final. I thought Gladys was third, but she wasn't. So we won! It's crazy. Today was really a team victory, and this jersey is for the team. All the girls worked so hard for this."

CERATIZIT-WNT DS, Steffen Radochla: "We won with one second... it's crazy. A little bit of luck, sure but a huge investment from the team and in the end, they deserved it after all their hard work this weekend. To take so many classifications and win as a team, it's great. We're all super proud of the girls and the staff for this performance."

Final Results: 

Best Team: CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling

General Classification: Cédrine Kerbaol

Best French Rider: Cédrine Kerbaol

Best Young Rider: Cédrine Kerbaol

Best Climber: Nina Berton