In the challenging final stage around Nice, which featured four ascents of the Col d’Eze, the peloton quickly whittled down to a group of favourites. De Vries did an impressive job of holding her own among the overall classification contenders.

The Dutch rider fought hard and stayed with the strongest riders for a long time, but had to let the favourites for the overall victory go on the final ascent of the French climb. De Vries eventually crossed the finish line in eighth place, moving up to 12th in the overall classification.

“I didn’t expect this performance beforehand,” De Vries said afterwards. “My legs felt good and fortunately I was able to survive the selection. The race exploded on the final climb, so I tried to ride at my own pace. In the sprint for eighth place, I went early and surprised myself with my strong sprint. Despite Pauline’s withdrawal, I look back on the past week with a positive feeling. It was obviously a huge disappointment, but as a team we bounced back strongly.”

Team manager Rutger Tijssen looks back on the past week with mixed feelings. “We came here with one big goal and unfortunately we weren’t able to achieve it. That’s a real shame, but it’s great to see other riders step up when the main goal is no longer within reach, and to see the progress being made by several riders.”

Now that the Tour de France is over, Tijssen’s focus turns to the remainder of the season. “In the coming period, once Pauline is back to full fitness, we will evaluate our Tour de France Femmes campaign. That is, of course, part of the process. We will look at what we did and what we could have done better, and ultimately take those lessons with us into the remainder of the season and next year.”