This is a Tour of France which she will remember.

Valentine Fortinyoung 23-year-old cyclist, took part from July 24 to 31, 2022 in the Women’s Tour de France. What was the return of the women’s edition after 33 years of absence, marks the very first Tour de France of this cycling lover. At the sound of his voice, there is no doubt that the experience pleased her and she will remember it. However, she should not be on the starting line.

“I was not supposed to do the Tour de France, but we had a lot of injuries in the team. So I was put in there, in the unknown. I thought I was going to have trouble, and In the end, I’m satisfied.”

Arrival on the Tour

Track or road cycling? Hesitant answer for Valentine Fortin, who has always known the track but who is proving himself on the road this year. The bicycle, she fell into it at the age of 5 thanks to her brother: “He absolutely wanted to do it so I followed him”, and since then she has never let go. “I was in the club of Venerque (Haute-Garonne), which then merged with that of Blagnacdetailed Valentine Fortin. And when I was 15 I was able to insert the France center of Bourges, and now I’m in the elites. »

The young woman from Toulouse then follows the competitions… and the medals: champion of France team pursuit in 2018 and 2019, winning two French cups alone, and European champion on track in 2021.

She even flies to Tokyo for the team pursuit games during the 2021 Olympic Games.

“This experience was incredible. We did not expect to be selected because we are a young team. We went there a little without knowing what we were going to do and we finished 7th out of 8. But we are happy because we wanted break the record for the French team, and we did it.”

On the strength of her experiences, the Toulousaine is spotted in 2021 by the team Cofidis who hires her. It was with this bib that she took part in the Tour de France.

The Tour de France experience

On August 24, 2022, Valentine Fortin set off with her team of six riders from the Champs-Elysées for the 1st stage of the Tour de France Women. ” It was crazy to leave for the Tour below the Eiffel Tower. As a Frenchwoman, being able to go from there, to her country, brings a lot of emotions…”, she confides.

For a week, the cyclist surpasses herself in this Tour which rests Paris at the top of The Board of Beautiful Girls, in Haute-Saône. It ends at the finish of the Tour at the 100^e place on 117. She notably obtained a beautiful 63^e place at the end of the 6^e stage. “I took advantage, day after day, of all that I could do and see, that is a very strong experience supports the cyclist.

Memories

If there is one thing that marked him, it was the welcome warm that the women’s edition of the Tour received.

“I signed autographs, we won photos with the public, even videos. It’s fun to have recognition and it’s a beautiful thing for us. We didn’t find so many people on There is even a little girl who said that we were very brave to do that, it touched me.”

The one who hopes that the women’s Tour will be rewarded to evolve, also confides in one of the falls of the race. ” I was in the big crash of the Tour on Thursday. I was not injured and I fell into the ditch. But the comments present on the networks, because it was a fall of women, it was not nice ”.

After the round?

The Tour de France has come to an end Sunday July 31, 2022. His return is already planned for next year.

To pay Valentine Fortin, the work continues with stages this summer. But as with any athlete, what does not leave his mind are the Paris 2024 Olympic Gameswith, she says, “a great dream of an Olympic medal”.

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