“To be honest, I have a mixed feeling,” - Audrey Cordon-Ragot on victory in Open de Suede Vargarda

Audrey Cordon-Ragot crossed the finish line second behind Marianne Vos in Open de Suede Vargarda, but she was surprised when she was informed about the actual winner. She got to know Marianne Vos was disqualified for using a prohibited position while riding.

Ragot was not thrilled with the news. “To be honest, I have a mixed feeling,” said Cordon-Ragot. She continues, “I’m super happy for the race I did, super proud of the performance of my teammates. We showed our strength with amazing teamwork, and my role was to finalize the huge work they did. That, for me, was the most important thing that happened today and what I’ll retain from the race.”

She thinks her efforts were diminished with the news, and she was glad to be second after best rider in the peloton .“On the other side, it’s a strange situation. After the finish line, I was happy for my second place, and I am still proud of it. I had no regrets because I was beaten by the strongest rider in the peloton at the moment. I was definitely not embarrassed to be second. But then I was told I was the winner and my name will be on the Palmares. Chapeau to Marianne because she was the first who recognized that a rule is rule and accepted the sanction,” said Cordon-Ragot.

She concluded with, “I feel this day, with my good performance and the win, even if unexpected, it’s a good reward for the efforts and sacrifices I did since the beginning of the year. Winning or not, I feel today it’s a day to enjoy. I’m not proud and happy because I won, but because me and my team rode strong.”