Sarah Gigante remains firmly in the mix at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, the last of the Giro d’Italia Women podium finishers still in the race. With Marlen Reusser abandoning on day one and Giro winner Elisa Longo Borghini departing before stage 3, Gigante stands alone from that select trio, and looks increasingly like a threat as the road turns uphill.
Speaking with CyclingNews ahead of stage 4, the Australian climber said, “I’m feeling good. Just looking forward to getting through today’s stage and then on to some harder stages starting from tomorrow.”
The terrain so far has not played to her strengths. Crosswinds, crashes and punchy climbs have dominated the first four days – the kind of profile that cost her 1:42 at the Giro. But this time, she’s come through just 51 seconds down in the general classification, sitting 19th overall. Her teammate Kim Le Court remains in third, 12 seconds behind leader Marianne Vos and six ahead of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
“It’s been an unforgettable Tour so far, with Kim Le Court taking yellow already,” she told CyclingNews. “Our little team isn’t so little anymore.”
Despite the focus on Le Court’s early sprint success, AG Insurance-Soudal has also kept Gigante well protected. The team appears to be hedging its bets, especially as the race heads for longer climbs.
Gigante is coming off a career-best Giro where she won two mountain stages and finished third overall. There’s been no sign of fatigue in France. After taking a few rest days following the Giro, she only received confirmation of her Tour selection two days before flying out – but had prepared as if she were racing all along.
“I train really hard anyway,” she said. “So apart from not having my usual recovery day in the week, the Giro was just like a hard training week, which I would do before the Tour anyway.”
She underwent iliac artery surgery in 2023 but has since returned stronger. Stage 8’s summit finish on Col de la Madeleine and the tough finale to Châtel on stage 9 are exactly the kind of terrain that could vault her up the standings.
“Of course, I’m looking forward to getting to the mountains and some long climbs in the last two stages look awesome,” she said. “But of course, we have to see where we’re sitting in GC with Kim, and hopefully we can get her back in yellow.”
AG Insurance-Soudal sports director Jolien D’hoore was bullish about Gigante’s potential when speaking earlier in the week. Asked what was possible for the 24-year-old, she replied simply, “A lot, a lot is possible.”
