The Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift is back for its second year, and this year Israel – Premier Tech Roland will be targeting a strong performance in the General Classification with Claire Steels, and stage success with Tamara Dronova.
Staring in Clermont-Ferrand and finishing in Pau, the eight-day race sees the riders take on the iconic Col du Tourmalet, with one mountain stage, four flat stages, two hillier stages and a twenty-three kilometer time trial on the final day.
Steels is looking forward to making her debut at the Tour de France Femmes, having already ridden the Vuelta Femenina, another of the big stage races in the Women’s WorldTour calendar.
“I’m incredibly excited to be racing, it’s going to be such an experience! Of course, it’s going to be a really tough week of racing but I’m always motivated by the hard days on the bike and can’t wait to get started.”
After a string of solid results at the Tour de Suisse, Steels is pleased with her form coming into the race, and will target the mountain stages, as well as the General Classification.
“I’ve had a good block of training since nationals and am confident in my preparation these last few weeks. We are going into the Tour with a strong team and we have great options for targeting solid stage and GC results with my focus being on the more mountainous stages.”
Steels comes in with a strong team of riders, who can help support her and Dronova on the tough stages of the eight-day race.
“We know each other pretty well by now and there’s always a great vibe and strong morale amongst the riders!”
Sports Director Sergey Klimov is optimistic for some strong results from the team, with Steels and Dronova being elected team leaders.
“For the Tour, all our riders are in good shape, and we have Tamara and Claire who will be our race leaders. They can get some really great results. With Claire, we will go for the General Classification and also Stage 7 which finishes on the Tourmalet. With Tamara, we will try for as many stages as possible to the final stage time trial for the stage wins. With that in mind, I’m optimistic for some great results at this Tour de France Femmes.”
The Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift starts on July 23rd with a flatter stage in Clermont-Ferrand, and finishes in Pau on July 30th.
Israel – Premier Tech Roland at the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift:
Claire Steels
Tamara Dronova
Elena Hartmann
Lizzie Stannard
Nathalie Eklund
Lara Vieceli
Fien Delbaere
Sports Director: Sergey Klimov
