What if the next French yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées was Juliette Labous? The 24-year-old Bisontine has in any case proven that she is capable of it. Second in the women’s Giro, which ended this Sunday with the final victory of the Dutchwoman Annemiek Van Vleuten, the Team DSM rider confirmed her good dispositions on the Grand Tours, a year after finishing in fourth place in the Tour de France Feminine. This time, the companion of Clément Berthet (AG2R-Citroën) is aiming even higher with, as at the Giro, a place on the podium.
Does finishing second in the Giro live up to your expectations?
JULIETTE LABOUS. I am really happy. If I had been told before the Giro that I would finish second, I would have signed immediately. I had some doubts about my form because I had some small physical problems during my preparation. I wasn’t super confident, not 100% sure of my physical condition, so it’s really satisfying to finish second. It may even have more flavors in view of this upset preparation.
What was the original objective?
I didn’t really have a goal in terms of results. I really wanted to give the best of myself and put in place the right strategy with the team because we had meetings for a few months to find the right formula. The goal was to apply that and not have any regrets at the end of the week. If I had finished fifth being to the best of my abilities and having done what I could, I wouldn’t have been disappointed either.
You didn’t experience any failures, any delicate moments during the nine days of racing. It’s a perfect week, isn’t it?
Absolutely. There was a stage where I couldn’t keep up on the long climb, but in the end I really wasn’t far, only about 30 seconds away, in a good group that helped me allowed to quickly return to the Van Vleuten group and company. So it’s really a week that went smoothly, without any particular problem. I was always in front, it was fun every day.
Did you feel like you were getting stronger as the week progressed?
I really got better day by day, especially on the penultimate stage when I was able to follow Annemiek Van Vleuten on the penultimate climb before the final ascent. I felt every day that I was recovering well, and that’s what shows that we’re getting stronger. It’s very positive.
Was Annemiek Van Vleuten impossible to pick up this week?
Yes, she was really on top. Each time it was necessary to widen gaps, she made them. But at the weekend, she seemed a little less inaccessible. I was able to follow her when she attacked, and that’s really rare. This is proof that she was not necessarily well above everyone after nine days.
Does this bode well for the Tour de France?
It’s true that I come out of it confident, and it helps to motivate myself mentally to do even more in the Tour de France. Because when you come out of the Giro not being sure of yourself and not having been well, it’s hard to reverse the trend. It’s obviously a good omen, and I hope to be in even better shape on the Tour.
Have you kept a little underfoot in view of the Tour de France which begins on July 23?
No not at all. The stages were quite short this year, only the last two exceeded 125 km. It lasted between 3 hours and 3h30 so these are not very substantial volumes and we are recovering quite well from this kind of effort. When you’re in good shape, you recover better too, it’s a positive gear. For the moment, in any case, I do not feel tired. I may have the backlash in a few days, this is often the case.
What is your program until the Tour de France?
I have two days of recovery then I will do a hypoxia reminder at Cop’s in Besançon (the sports performance optimization complex) about the benefits of the training course at altitude. These will be rather moderate intensity sessions then next week some bigger intensity reminders to fine-tune the form before the Tour de France.
The grid will be similar to the Tour de France. Does this result give you higher ambitions?
We still have to add a few girls, especially Demi Vollering who still dominated a lot of races this year. Physically, she may be a cut above but you never know. There will also be Katarzyna Niewiadoma so there will be a few more girls to play for the top 5 and the podium. But it is sure that this result makes me want to go for the podium.
