Runner-up spots within the Giro d’Italia Girls and Vuelta Femenina, plus a number of stage race wins, is not a palmarès that ought to lead you to be underestimated for the Tour de France Femmes, however someway that is precisely the place Marlen Reusser finds herself on this week.
Reusser is firmly on all of the lists of contenders – we ranked her third in ours – however dialogue across the Swiss rider has typically been caveated with phrases like outsider or darkish horse, however why?
Reusser herself has typically pointed to her top and stature, which admittedly just isn’t that of the smallest climbers, as a purpose folks do not see her as a GC rider, however certainly by this level, her outcomes are sufficient to dispel any misconceptions about her talents.
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In Friday’s press convention, she was requested straight if she was shocked at being undervalued (particularly within the Tour fantasy recreation, was how her former teammate and now podcaster Lizzy Banks put it to her).
“No, I am not shocked. It is all the time like this earlier than each race, I feel each race in my life, usually I am underestimated,” Reusser answered. “The one exception was actually – it is no joke – at Paris-Roubaix, the place the group did not announce me, and I used to be by no means on the beginning checklist. In each pre-race, pre-whatever, that was the one one.
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“Usually folks ask like ‘Marlen? Nevertheless it’s climbing…’ I do not know. It is like this. It is OK, I perceive.”
The climbing on this yr’s Tour is nothing to be sniffed at, however the headline mountain – Mont Ventoux – is steep however regular, the form of climb which might go well with a time trialist, the self-discipline Reusser is world champion in.
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And even so, Reusser has confirmed herself on all kinds of various climbs, together with ending sixth on the Colle delle Finestre in a Giro the place she did not really feel like herself, and wins on a few of the steep, difficult climbs of the Spanish stage races. It is in all probability time for everybody to be clear: Reusser is a climber.
Then in fact there’s the stage that elevates Reusser even farther from prime favorite to potential winner: the time trial. The stage 4 effort in opposition to the clock in Dijon has a two-kilometre climb within the center, however Reusser’s rainbow-jersey profitable effort in Kigali proved that that isn’t past her capabilities as a time trialist, and Tuesday’s stage seems like a giant alternative to take time, particularly from the riders who’ve admitted weak point within the self-discipline.
For one purpose or one other, this seems like the primary time that Reusser is beginning as such a giant favorite. She was favoured final yr, however dropped out sick on stage 1, and previous to that, her double stage wins got here while driving for SD Worx, the place she was not the GC chief.
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Just like the race itself, although, Reusser’s position right here has developed, and he or she appeared full of pleasure about lastly coming right here as a frontrunner, with this as her season objective.
“I imply, it is 5 years in the past we had once more the primary Tour de France, and I may witness this. It was simply a tremendous factor. I used to be driving along with Demi for SD Worx, and I additionally discovered myself all the time in these supportive roles in all of the editions I may do,” she stated.
“Final yr. I used to be in a really unhealthy state, and I had meals [poisoning] once more, and I could not experience. So it is the primary yr for me that I am right here and this was the goal.”
Her path to get right here has not been the smoothest, together with her rollercoaster season interrupted by an harm within the pre-season after which a crash on the Tour of Flanders that took her out of her first stage race objective, the Vuelta Femenina, and value her on the Giro, however she’s been firmly again on the proper path for a number of weeks now.
“We actually wished to go for the Tour this yr, and I had no less than the final one to 2 months that had been good for preparation and I really feel wholesome and good,” she stated. “So it is particular now to lastly be on the Tour in that means. I noticed the Tour from many many views, so sure, it is particular.”
May she even go huge straight out of the blocks and seize the yellow jersey on one of many powerful opening phases earlier than the race leaves Switzerland? It is actually not unattainable, and would please the Swiss followers and media right here, however Reusser was lifelike about that concept, and the potential drawbacks too.
“That may be so cool, actually it will be superb to put on yellow,” she stated. “However I feel to put on yellow comes with fairly some cost [cost]. Like you must do a whole lot of stuff after the stage, and it is a lengthy race, so I do not know what’s price extra. So I feel the hazard is tremendous small that this occurs anyway.”
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