After 8 brutal stages of racing, the final stage in Nice was always going to be as much of a mental challenge as it was a physical one.

The goal of the day was to leave it all out on the road to protect Cédrine's place in the overall classification and if the opportunity arose a potential stage as well. The teamwork and commitment that was on display all week was again on show today as the peloton took on four ascents of the Col d'Eze. Henrietta Christie, Kristen Faulkner, Nina Berton, Magdeleine Vallieres, Noemi Rüegg, Alice Towers and Cédrine Kerbaol cohesion and camaraderie was on full display and they showed the world just how strong this team is.

After nearly two full months together at training camps and then the Tour de France Femmes, the team is leaving the race with heads held high. A top ten in the overall and top ten stage finishes in all stages but one, the team can be proud of how they raced.

“It's a vibe with these girls. We have so much fun in the bus, at dinner, on the bike. We are all here for each other, and you really can feel that on the bike as well.

“The Tour is my main goal of the year, and every year it's the same goal, but every year I feel I'm getting closer and closer. I’m finding the top level. There are a lot of things to still work on, but I think we are going to make it there at some point. 
As a team, yeah, we've been racing so well all together, communicating well, doing the good effort. That is a good moment. I think we’ve made a big step as a team.” - Cédrine Kerbaol

“The ‘odds on’ game has been my highlight. We've been playing this game since the start of the race. It's a little bit like playing dare. So you say a dare that you propose to the other person and they have to tell you their odds of how much they want to do it or not do it. So we've been daring each other, all sorts of things all week, and we've had to do some funny challenges, which helps you just forget about the day a little bit, or take your mind off something else. 


“The stages where I felt good. I mean, I've obviously had a couple of bad days. I think, like everyone, the heat hasn't made the race easy. Everyone's sensations are pretty inconsistent. You never know what kind of legs you're going to wake up with on each day so the stages where I felt good and that we've really executed the plan, or I feel like I've really executed it properly were great.
I really enjoyed the Ventoux stage. I think we did a really good job there. And then the climb itself, actually, was one of the climbs that I actually did enjoy. Normally
I'm counting down the K's, and I'm like, I can't wait to get to the top, but it was a different climb than other mountains I've done.” - Alice Towers

“The ‘odds on’ game! We've been doing it every day yet, but no one's actually done it yet, where there's a microphone sitting on the stage, and each time we go on the stage, we do odds on to pick up the microphone and start singing, but no one's done it yet. 
Every time Nina and I look at it, we go, odds on.

“It’s been fun racing with the team. I think we've been riding really well together, and it's been a good group here. It's been a really good week of racing as a team and getting good results and working with each other. I think it's been a really good atmosphere on and off the bike. So it's been a lot of fun. And on the bike yesterday, I dropped a bottle, and I was trying to spray Alice with water just after I got the bottle, and we both looked at each other, and, like, the saying of this tour has been ‘for fork's sake,’ and we just looked at each other, went, ‘For fork's sake.’

“This week has just been a good time together, working together as a team, and I think we've probably learned more about each other this week. Apparently, I've lifted the morale with my ASO [pre-race] photo.
I lost a bet to do a really cringey smile and it's apparently been making everyone laugh through the week.” - Henri Christie

“In this team, there's never a boring moment, so much happened off the bike. But for sure, I just enjoyed the atmosphere in the bus before the race, and just all the odds on that we did. Just the vibes of the whole team, the whole tour.

“The team work. I mean, if you look at how we work together, it's just crazy. Everyone was committed every day. Every day, everyone did what they could. Everyone in the peloton just comes to us and says [they have] so much respect for you. It's a super nice feeling when other teams see that you work really well as a collective and that the vibes are super high, and you get so much more respect, so that's really nice.

“It has been a long time. I can't even remember when I left home, after nationals [in June], so a long time, but I think we all kept the vibe super high, which is a good sign. It means that it's a team that works well together.
I was a bit scared in the beginning, but I think the atmosphere is great, and we just became closer and closer as a team, I think.

“Things never go 100 percent to your expectations, otherwise, it would be a bit boring, and we are not robots, but everything went quite good for the team. We can be all super proud of how we raced and how we stick together every day. I just love it, and I'm super proud to be part of this team and be here with all of those girls that are all so amazing.” - Nina Berton

“We have a really good group of girls and we had a lot of fun this week. We've been joking around a lot and keeping the vibe really high.
A lot of odds on is our thing this year at the Tour and at the [pre-race] camp.

“We’ve had a really good team performance. We're really high in GC. We had the top 10s pretty much every day so I’m really happy with the Tour. We've been racing really well and working super well as a group, so I would say it’s been to expectations. I think with the camps we've seen, we were already strong, so I think we've been showing it here.” - Mags Vallieres

“Going up on Ventoux and seeing the fans, I think, was, to me, definitely the highlight. They're just with so much energy and support, and it wasn't just the cheering, it was the custom T-shirts with faces on it, and these bottle baskets that had basketball hoops on it, and these homemade signs, and people just so excited and stoked to be there. And every year, that momentum gets stronger, but this year was unlike anything I'd ever really seen. 


“It's so much more than just a race. And it's also more than just women's sports. I think it's about gender equality. I think it's about showing women what we're capable of. I think it's sending the message that what we can do with our bodies is so much greater than what the media teaches you from a young age, what your body's worth. I think it's about following your dreams. I think it's about people see teamwork, in a way that doesn't show up in other sports, because, you know, soccer's a team sport, but the level of sacrifice behind the scenes, it's very different, and I just think there's so much that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift brings to culture that people are starting to see, and it makes it so much bigger than just a race. 


“Yesterday, we had a rap battle on the bus, which was quite fun, with the microphone. I just think the energy on the team is really good, this Tour. 
I want to say we're lucky to have such strong team culture, but I think it's not luck, because it's something that's cultivated from the very first day we started this team, and I think it was a value, probably the most important value that this team started off with, and every year, it's reinforced and cultivated. I think everyone on this team is chosen, because they bring that to the team, and then it's also something that we actively work on. I love the culture on this team. I always say that even if we don't win every race, I still think we have the best culture out there, and that's what I'm really proud of.” - Kristen Faulkner

“Personally, the highlight of my Tour was basically just to be at the start again and to race again. That was super special, and to have to grow on the part in Switzerland was something I will never forget. So that was a huge highlight for me personally. But I think as a team we did an amazing job throughout the whole week, and we stick together as a team, and we had each other's back every day, in every situation, and I think that's, in the end, what counts the most, and I think we really grew together. So I think we had a good week as a team and yeah, I'm taking a lot of memories.

“One moment I will always remember, I think, is when I did the leadout on the moment for Cédrine. I remember when we spoke before the meeting, I was like, okay, if I can, I will put some water over you but then that's the moment that you know I'm almost done so you have to take care of yourself. And then we got to this moment and I had this water bottle and I squeezed it over her, poured it over her, but then she makes this face, like, opens her mouth, so she wants me to squeeze the water in her mouth. And it was such a funny moment, but I was suffering so much that I was like, I would love to laugh right now, but I can't because I'm just on my limit. 
And we're also like, it's actually not the moment now, Cédrine, to make jokes, because I'm suffering so much. But it was also funny because I knew, okay, she's still going fine, so that's a good sign. And I think for the competitors, it was also funny. And then my job was done and she kept going.

“That was super special [when my mom surprised me at the finish line of stage 8]. It's also a moment I will never forget. I was super exhausted at the finish, and then I actually, I heard her voice, calling my name, but I was like, oh, this sounded like my mom, but I was like, oh, this cannot be true. And then I looked to my left and she was standing there, I was like, oh, that's crazy. So it was a really amazing surprise. It shows me how she supports me through the highs and the lows. She also did so much for me during my whole injury time and now she's back at the races with me and celebrating so that's super special.” - Noemi Rüegg

“I think one thing that really stands out with this team is the teamwork. It’s been exceptional all week. The riders are part of the plan and part of making the plan, so they’re excited about it every day. They’ve really come together as a team and connected in that way.

Today was another really good example of that. From the beginning, we had Mags covering moves on the early climb, then Nina setting a strong tempo. All week, if someone has had a bad day, someone else has stepped up and picked up the slack. That’s been the environment within this team — they’ve really supported each other.

You saw that again today. We didn’t know exactly how everyone would respond after such a hard week, but the team did a great job. They were getting bottles for Cédrine, Mags hung in there for as long as possible, and everyone was fully committed to supporting her.

Cédrine lost a little bit of time at the end, but it’s still a big step forward from last year, and I think we’re moving in the right direction.

Hopefully we can carry this momentum through the rest of the season. We still have a lot of racing left and some really good opportunities to get results. Looking ahead to next year and these stage races, one of our biggest strengths is our consistency. When you’re racing for GC, that consistency is incredibly important. We’re heading in the right direction, and now we just have to keep going for it.” - Carmen Small, sports director

Scroll back through the last nine days of data on any of our riders’ Wahoos and you’ll find they’ve raced 1,175 kilometers, climbed 18,795 meters, raced up three different mountain ranges, and crossed two countries. Dig deeper and you’ll discover the immeasurable amount of laughter and support our riders have shared; the disappointments they’ve shouldered for each other; and the bond they will eternally share having trained together and raced as one committed team throughout the Tour de France.

August at the Côte d’Azur means a trip to the beach and our riders were not about to miss the opportunity to go for a swim. Tonight there will be no massages, just a team celebration to thank everyone for their hard work, so the crystal clear Mediterranean was just the refresher our squad needed after nine days of full gas racing.

It’s not everyday someone takes the time to bake homemade cinnamon buns. Luckily, Chef Owen knows it’s not everyday our squad finishes the Tour, so he prepared a batch of cinnamon buns alongside their usual breakfast. This recipe takes a bit of time but, believe us, it is worth it.

Makes 12-13

Ingredients: dough

570 ml lukewarm milk

150 g caster sugar

45 g fresh yeast

4.5 tsp easy-blend/active dried yeast

1 tsp cardamom seeds

180 g plain/all-purpose flour

Ingredients: filling

100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

200 g packed dark brown soft sugar

3 tbsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients: glaze

85 g caster sugar

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 backing sheets, lined with parchment paper

Method

Put the milk, sugar, yeast, cardamom, melted butter and egg in a food processor or mixer with a dough hook. With the motor running, gradually add the flour until it is all incorporated and the dough has come together.

Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let prove in a warm place for one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it out until it is about 30 x 80 cm and 7 mm thick.

Spread the butter evenly over the dough and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon all over the top.

Roll the dough up from a long side. Cut into roughly 6 cm rolls but cut them at an angle - so make the first cut diagonally, then the second cut about 6cm along diagonally in the opposite direction. You should get a roll that looks like a triangle with the tip chopped off. Carefully transfer the buns to the prepared baking sheets, with the longest edge of the bun sitting on the sheet, cover with clean dish towels again and let prove in a warm place for 30-60 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Bake the buns in the preheated over for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

To make the glaze, put the sugar, lemon juice, and 100 ml water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until slightly thickened. The glaze will still be quite watery.

Remove the buns from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and brush the glaze generously over them. Let cool before serving.

Each stage of the Tour ends at the arrivée, or finish line. No matter how many kilometers the peloton has ridden, whether it’s a road stage or a time trial, the riders know at the arrivée they will find team staff ready to tend to their needs and a crowd of devoted fans whose support and encouragement keeps them motivated. Today, our seven EF Education-Oatly riders reached the arrivée in Nice, the final finish line of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes. Thank you for supporting us.