EF Education-Oatly knows how to bounce back.

After Cédrine Kerbaol lost time on the GC yesterday, our squad went on the attack today and Cédrine finished it off with a second place. Magdeleine Vallieres covered the early moves, riding on the front from the start. Eventually the peloton allowed a breakaway of three riders to go up the road though the gap never stretched much beyond two minutes and the bunch reeled them in comfortably.

With 45 kilometers to go, Noemi Rüegg, Kristen Faulkner, Mags, and Cédrine were in a group of about 25 riders. Fifteen kilometers later, that group had whittled down to just six riders, including Cédrine. Their advantage over the chasers was slim, bouncing between about 15 to 30 seconds, but it was enough. Coming into the line, Cédrine gave it everything she had, finishing in second place. While she wanted more, it just shows what happens when this squad commits.

“Obviously, winning a stage is something really cool. Ending up second is a bit bitter, I would say. Actually on this hard circuit when it's just fast all day, I just trusted [my sprint] till the end and I knew the girls were very tired as well.

“The team did amazing again today.
 Mags was just magnificent. She was pacing on the climb, just setting a nice pace so only Noemi could stay and be there in case of a sprint finish. Everyone really did such a good job.

“The initial plan was to kind of arrive on a small sprint finish for Noemi. I think, on paper, I'm not the quickest of the group I was in but today I felt really good and I think we miscommunicated about that. I probably should have said it earlier. But, yes, this is a game. Tomorrow is the most important day and we are going to fight really hard. Everything can change really fast.” - Cédrine Kerbaol

“It was a hard day. I followed some moves in the beginning and, well, quite a lot of moves in the beginning and attacked a few times. But then there were three girls, one by one, who went and when they went, I was like, ah, it's nice to be in front, but also a three person breakaway is not going to make it to the finish normally so I just sat in a bunch and then Nina and Henri did a super good job to bring it back a bit later because we had a plan to pace the next climb. So I was a bit too far back coming into that climb, but I made it to the front and then just set a good pace a bit until like three K to go and then someone attacked and I was a bit on the limit.

“Then I came back and then just helped the girls position and give water and tried to direct a bit, be the road captain a bit for the final. And then I just suffer to stay there and try to help as much as possible until the finish. We had Cédrine in the front, which was really good, a good situation for us, and she gained some time in GC and came in second place, which is awesome.” - Magdeleine Vallieres

“Second is a great result, so I think we should celebrate the second but of course, we always want to win. So it was a hard decision today. It was a good move with Cédrine in the front and then Kim Le Court kind of spoiled our fun and so that at that point, we needed to make a decision and with having Noemi behind, that's always a really tough call what to do. But Cédrine did a great sprint. She got a time bonus on the finish, and got some time on her rivals going into tomorrow, so that's always good.

“Going into tomorrow, we are a little bit further back in GC than we wanted to be, but it's a really long climb tomorrow. It’s 55 minutes, give or take some, and so you can really lose a lot or gain a lot. Hopefully we are gaining a lot. But I think the key thing is, the girls are racing really well together as a team. Fully committed to the plan every day. You saw that yesterday, you saw that today as well. They did a really, really good job as a team. The level is super high, so now we just need to finish it off a little bit with the climb, and this is suiting Cédrine really well. Going in, we have a lot of confidence in Cédrine and in the team to position her well and then also support her on the climb, which is necessary. So we look forward to tomorrow.” - Carmen Small, sports director

With Cédrine in the late breakaway and six categorized climbs on the course, she was in her element, pushing the limits on each descent. Nothing thrills our French rider quite like testing the limits of physics as she rounds corners and chooses her line, tucking low and getting as aero as she can. Her Wahoo showed a top speed of 84 kph. Not bad, especially with so many twists and turns on the course!

There’s plenty of work to go around at the Tour for everyone: our mechanics tend to the bikes, the soigneurs take care of the riders, the sports directors set the race plan, and admin posts reels from the day. At some point in each day, we try to find a moment to put our computers and phones and cameras away to decompress. Tonight’s hotel had a few games in the lobby so we grabbed one called “Time’s Up!” and made up our own rules.

Fresh, hydrating, and perfect after a long trail run or a hot summer ride.

Serves: 8–10

Ingredients

½ large watermelon (about 2–2.5 kg), cut into bite-sized cubes

3 cucumbers, sliced into thin half-moons

1 pack (250 g) rice noodles

1 large bunch fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly torn

Zest of 2 limes

Juice of 3 limes

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey (optional, depending on watermelon sweetness)

1 tsp flaky sea salt

Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper

Optional: 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds or chopped roasted peanuts for crunch

Method

1. Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water until completely chilled. Toss with a splash of olive oil to stop them sticking.

2. Whisk together the lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, honey, salt and black pepper.

3. In a large bowl, combine the watermelon, cucumber and mint.

4. Add the cold rice noodles and gently toss everything together.

5. Pour over the dressing and mix carefully so the watermelon stays intact.

6. Finish with toasted sesame seeds or peanuts if using, plus a few extra mint leaves and an extra squeeze of lime just before serving.

Chef’s tip: Chill everything before mixing. This salad is at its best ice cold on a hot day.

The Latin verb descendre is the root of the modern French word descente, which means a descent. If there’s one takeaway from today, it’s that Cédrine was born to nail the descents with all her might.