Ladies Audrey De Keersmaeker wraps up Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées with two top-10 finishes

"I had told myself beforehand that I wanted to aim for a top-10 finish in at least one stage, and to finish inside the top 15 overall," says Audrey De Keersmaeker. Mission accomplished- and then some, as she even added a second top-10 result to exceed her own expectations. "I was able to tick off that first goal already on day one. It was an extremely hot day, and I had a feeling that most riders wouldn’t want to go all out in such conditions. We ended up arriving at the finish in a large group, and since the final climb came not too far before the line, I was able to position myself well and sprint to seventh place."

"Stage two had a lot of elevation gain, especially toward the end of the day. The finish was at the top of the Col du Soulor, but even before that we had to get over an 8-kilometer climb. I was curious to see how my legs would respond to that. In the end, I reached the final climb with the lead group. The pace shot up quickly, though, and after about three kilometers I had to let go. I tried to hold a steady rhythm and ended up finishing 16th on the day, which put me in 15th place overall."

Today’s third stage was also the final day of the race in the Pyrenees- a stage where a lot could still happen. "It was a tough, undulating course with many narrow climbs- some of them quite steep- and lots of up-and-down all day long. I tried to stay near the front as much as possible and joined several attack attempts. On the final steep climb, I found myself in a group of six or seven riders, including the GC leader. Unfortunately, the cooperation wasn’t great, and the bunch managed to catch back up. A pity, because a few of my GC rivals also made it back in the process."

De Keersmaeker ultimately finished ninth in the stage and wrapped up the race in 15th place overall. "I can be quite satisfied with that," she concluded. "Although I have to admit… those 11 seconds between me and the rider in 11th still sting just a little."

Picture: PhotoNews