Cyclist
‘My dreams are bigger now’: Sarah Gigante Q&A
You moved to AG Insurance-Soudal this season after terminating your contract with Movistar through mutual consent. How are you settling in, and how are the vibes?
It’s amazing, I don’t feel new at all. Actually, I haven’t felt new from maybe day three. It’s been fantastic. I feel so welcomed and part of the team. We’re all in it together and we also have a lot of fun on and off the bike.
You had success early on too with your success at the Tour Down Under. Winning at home must have been emotional?
I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day. Not just the result itself but everything around the race, coming back having changed teams, it was so much. I just really, really wanted to prove to others, but mainly to myself, that I could be back. It meant so much to me and it was a lovely way to start with my new team. I always smile pretty hard when I think of that day. It was definitely my best moment on the bike.
What have you been learning this season with AG Insurance-Soudal?
A few things. I’d say I still struggle a lot with positioning but I have realised how much easier it is when you ride as a team, or even just having one teammate shepherding you through the peloton. It really makes a big difference and they look after me. I mean, I do take a lot of work, but when they do look after me, I can see how much of a difference it makes riding together.
Another thing would the scientific side, especially with nutrition. Knowing just how much we had to eat during the Tour de France Femmes and it being seen so positively was cool. If we have any questions with anything, they always have their answers and the research behind it. I really like how they’re so evidence based.
How do you see yourself as a rider?
I like it when the racing is really hard physically. I’m not the fastest sprinter at all, but I guess my power output doesn’t really change whether I’ve been riding for five minutes or five days. I’m just the same, a bit of a diesel. When the racing is really hard and the peloton is strung out, or there’s no longer a peloton, that’s when I can come into my own. Especially when it’s uphill, that’s even better. I feel like one day I need to do Unbound or something because I can motor on for ages.
This year marks your debut Tour de France Femmes. What were the emotions like when you realised you were going to go?
It something I’d been dreaming of since, well not decades, because I didn’t know about the women’s Tour de France back when it did formerly exist, and then it didn’t exist. I have been dreaming of it, though, since 2021 and it was awesome those first and second years that I saw my teammates absolutely dominating. Annemiek [van Vleuten] was smashing the GC and they took a couple of stage wins and fought hard the next year. It was definitely something I wanted to be part of.
Then to hear this year that I could go, that was really special. I don’t think it was until I got to Rotterdam though and saw the crowd before Stage 1 that I realised just how big it was. Or maybe the media day the day before, when there were loads of different media channels interviewing the riders in so many different languages. When I stood on the stage before Stage 1 and looked out at a whole sea of faces, I was like, wow, this is cool.
There were little things throughout the race that made me smile too, even when I was suffering, On Stage 6, these guys were standing on the roadside with chainsaws. And I was like, oh yeah, I’m in the Tour de France Femmes. Seeing kids on the side of the road too was nice, to think that we might be inspiring the next generation. But not only little girls, there were boys too, I loved that.
You constantly kept improving in terms of your stage finish position. Are you the kind of person that rides into a race, or do you find yourself in the zone from Stage 1?
I did see that! I think I was the only rider in the whole race who had a better placing on each stage. That was a bit of random trivia but yeah, like I said I have good fatigue resistance because I’m a diesel, so that does help. I think most of that too was down to the course design. It was very backended and each stage was harder than the day before. The harder the stage, the better for me.
Where does being a diesel come from, do you enjoy punishing yourself?
I’ve always been like that. I’ve never been a very good sprinter so I’ve always had to beat my rivals with an attack and going solo.
One of your most impressive performances came on the final day, especially on the Col du Glandon. What was it like being in the leading group at a pivotal moment when you can see riders like Kasia Niewiadoma in the yellow jersey?
It was an awesome feeling, especially because it was the first time I’ve raced up a mountain in Europe where things were going right! Something went wrong at La Vuelta Femenina and I’m pretty sure I had broken ribs. I never got the X-ray, but either way I couldn’t breathe in properly. Every tiny bump hurt and I couldn’t get out of the saddle. I came into the race feeling in awesome form but then didn’t do well after the crash and I was really disappointed.
At the Volta a Catalunya, I had another chance to race up a mountain but I got a fever and had to pull out. Both times I tried to race, wasn’t 100% and then I ended up thinking, oh God, these other women are so much stronger than me. So this time, I got to go up a mountain when feeling awesome.
It was really cool to see that I can be up there at the pointy end uphill. I just have to keep working on the rest. But it was nice to think that when everything’s going well and my team puts me in a great position and I’m feeling healthy, then I can climb with the best.
Who would you say are those teammates that you rely on most, not just at the Tour de France Femmes, to help you with positioning?
All my teammates have been awesome this year, especially at the Tour Down Under and the Vuelta, but maybe a shout out to Julie Van der Velde. She’s super-strong and she’s saved me a lot of times this season by either waiting for me, or we’ll go around the outside together and she’ll be the one taking the wind to bring me to the front. Everyone can see I have a long way to go but I do feel like I’m improving thanks to every single one of my teammates.
You said after the Tour de France Femmes that now your dreams are even bigger. It’s hard asking someone this immediately after they’ve just done something brilliant, but what is next for you in the future?
I do feel like my dreams are bigger now, because I have more confidence in how I can climb. I knew I was good at Willunga but everyone always says, oh it’s Australia and it’s January. I mean, I kind of thought of that too. So to come to the Tour de France Femmes in August, at that point you have to think, okay, like everyone is pretty much peaking. If I can climb with the best or close to the best, then that’s pretty exciting.
One of my goals is to improve my confidence and technique so that they are closer to the level of my engine, and then I’m really excited to see what I can do one day. But for now, just keep learning and don’t put too much pressure on myself. I already put enough pressure on myself. Just enjoy the steps along the way. It’s the same with the seventh place at the Tour. Of course, part of me is annoyed with myself for getting dropped on the descent or wasting energy with poor positioning. I’m sure I could do better, just from a physical point of view, but then also right now, that’s where I am. So I’m proud of the result, even if it could be better.
What is something about yourself that people might not know?
I love coaching because I’m a real numbers person and I love seeing other people improve and trying to help them. I love learning languages too. Maybe a fun fact is that I didn’t lose my Duolingo streak for Spanish during the Tour de France Femmes! I almost did, I had to use the streak freezes on the travel day and the day before the race. But I made it.
Duolingo streaks are tough. That’s interesting though, how long have you been coaching?
I started in December. I graduated university then, and after graduating, I found I still missed university and so I did a coaching course online. I absolutely loved it. It was one you could pace yourself with, but I did it quickly because I couldn’t wait to learn what came next.
I just always love following my heart.
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