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"It is not yet as big as the men's, but it is going in that direction" - Charlotte Kool backs 2024 Tour de France Femmes to be best edition yet
CyclingMonday, 29 July 2024 at 20:30
Women's cycling has been on a steeply upward trajectory in recent years. One of the clearest signs of the growing interest in the sport is the rise of the Tour de France Femmes, which in 2024, will depart from across the border in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
One of those Dutch riders hoping to impress on home roads at the start of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, will be Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's sprint star, Charlotte Kool. "It is super special", she says cheerfully on the website of the Grand Depart. "It says a lot about the development of the Tour that this is happening. It is not yet as big as the men's of course, but it is going in that direction and that is great. I hope that many people will be on the sidelines during the stages and I also expect that this will give women's cycling in our country a huge boost."
Although normally feared in the peloton as one of the fastest women on two wheels, Kool has been notable cooler in 2024, claiming just the one win, a stage of the recent Baloise Belgium Tour. "I couldn't really be happy with that victory, because I haven't been the best version of myself all season," she says honestly. "I haven't been riding badly all season and I'm in a good position - especially in tough races - in the finals, so I've really made progress this winter. I also felt really good in the preparation for this season. My values in training and competitions have improved, but I still haven't had a top feeling all year. And that irritates me."
“In a sprint you never know what will happen. And of course I hope that I can find the right feeling in the coming weeks. The Tour has been a very important goal for me for so long," the 25-year-old concludes. "You know: around the National Championships I really started to improve and I thought I was on the right track again, but now something strange is going on again, which I hope is something innocent and that it will go away with rest.”
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- Nonsense Mistermaumau. Tom has noticeably more character and personality than Mathieu. Look at the photograph with this article - when was the last time you saw Mathieu crack a smile like that?RupertBear17-12-2024
- Get over yourself! Tom is fine, he's quite a character in his way - he's got a great sense of humour for a start. Watch him and Matt Stephens do one of their cafe rides, they're both a hoot. I don't mind Mathieu, but he's a bit of a cold fish in case you haven't noticed. You guys make me laugh, you get a unique rider like Tom appears on the scene and all you can do is bitch! By the way Senna, your use of a comma and then the lack of a space between words is usually an indicator of ASD. Now I'm being bitchy!RupertBear17-12-2024
- Whining isn’t a good look, Lance. Oh and doping or not, the GOAT is still Eddy Merckx imho - lance couldn’t t even come close when you compare resultsCrashjames16-12-2024
- * not taking anything away from the tireless sacrifices wout has made as a superstar. those are two extraordinary individuals.OCexile16-12-2024
- sadly true. mathieu is the bedrock AD was built on, and he’s always shouldered that role and always seen the bigger picture: took MUCH less money than he could have gotten while the team was growing, and has written them new book on what it means to be a completely selfless superstar, witness every ferocious leadout for jasper and what he did at MSR last year. yup, so far that’s not thomas.OCexile16-12-2024
- ...you could also add diminuer,etiquette,basic PR skills and respect all of which Pidcock lacks in abundance.Senna196016-12-2024
- Just like Remco should have ;-)Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- And you base that on which vast amount of knowledge you have on him please?Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- Not only that but what MVDP did at AD had a lot to do with a personality that TP will never have.Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- i mean, duh, the ONLY reason for pidcock to be at Q36.5 is freedom and autonomy. vande velde has kind of an art for the obvious. but as far as the “you should do what van der poel did” advice goes, well, I’LL state the obvious: doing what mathieu did KINDA depends on being ABLE to do what mathieu did. if it didn’t then yeah, that would really be some terrific advice.OCexile16-12-2024