ROBERTS 5TH AS DIXON SECURES 6TH ON GC IN THE PYRÉNÉES

It may not have quite yielded a podium, but Awen Roberts delivered an impressive ride on the third and final stage of Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées, finishing fifth from a strong breakaway that animated more than half of the race.

The 114km stage unfolded over a compact sequence of sharp, repeated climbs ranging from 500m to 3km, tackled across 2.5 laps and totalling a substantial 1738m of elevation gain.

The peloton remained together through the opening hour of racing, but shortly afterwards, Awen jumped into a strong 10-rider move. With 43km remaining, the break had established an advantage of more than 2:35 mins, while back in the bunch, Joëlle Messemer was doing an excellent job of responding to attacks and positioning Emily Dixon. Fresh from an outstanding third place on Saturday’s Tourmalet queen stage, 2024 Zwift Academy winner Emily entered the final day as Generation’s general classification (GC) hope.

The intensity steadily increased as race leader Blasi’s UAE Team ADQ squad took control of the chase. The gap to the breakaway was reduced to under 90 seconds inside the final 20km, but after the penultimate climb, the escapees continued to work effectively together and still held a healthy advantage of 1:40 mins charging into the day’s final challenge.

On the third repeat of the 600m merciless Côte de Merce, both the peloton and the breakaway exploded. Awen was unable to match the acceleration of two fellow escapees on the double-digit gradients; they crested the summit clear and maintained their buffer during the fast 3km run to the finish. Behind, Emily rallied strongly but could not quite follow the moves of top GC contenders Blasi and Włodarczyk (UAD), along with Berthet (TFS). Awen sprinted for the final podium spot but ultimately crossed the line in fifth, while one minute later, Emily finished inside the top 20.

While a podium narrowly slipped away, Welsh rider Awen could still take plenty of satisfaction from her ride:

“I am really happy with my performance today – I managed to be in the break where I measured my efforts well. It was also a very hot day, but I kept on top of my nutrition and liquid intake. Two riders got away on the final climb, and as we came into the finish, I could see them and worked hard to chase, as I was all in for the win. I was pleased with 5th place but wanted more. I am super proud of myself for giving it 100% and just going for it! It was a fantastic team effort, and it was great to ride with the girls across all the stages.”

Meanwhile, Emily retained sixth place on the general classification, matching the position she started the day in. The 19-year-old Aussie finished just 13 seconds shy of the overall podium, headed by Blasi and Włodarczyk (UAD), and agonisingly ended up level on time with Comte (COF) in the young rider classification, missing out on the win only through countback.

Generation Sports Director Gosia Jasinska reflected on both the final stage and the team’s performance across the fiercely contested three-day UCI 2.Pro race:

“I almost want to cry because I am very happy about how Awen and Emily rode, and also the whole team, because everyone did a very amazing job.

It always depends on what your legs have in the moment, but I know that everyone gave 110% for Emily, while Awen was trying to go for win. Okay, we’ve already started to talk about mistakes that were made, but I am still proud because they’re learning and developing very fast, and they have that fire in their hearts, so I’m very, very pleased about that.

We were trying to get on the podium with Emily, but before the last climb, it was difficult for her to fight for positioning because she was alone in the peloton. But, it is what it is, and for sure we’ll keep fighting to improve that.

In the end, the girls did a very good race and they are a great team; a big thank you to all the staff because they do an amazing job too. It’s also just nice to have these moments of fighting equally with WorldTeams. I think in a few minutes I will cry, but first I must complete my job too!”