Plouay – Karolina rises from the Breton rain

This Saturday, the six Winspace Orange Seal riders lined up at the start of the Classic Lorient Agglomération faced tough weather conditions. It was under the rain that Karolina Perekitko found her smile again: she finished 38th after battling for a long time in the front positions of the bunch.

Jenaya Francis, Florence Normand, Marie-Morgane Le Deunff, Camille Fahy and Karolina Perekitko had a clear plan at the start of the Classic Lorient Agglomération: to work for Constance Valentin and bring her as far as possible with the favorites’ group. But during this WorldTour race, the strategy evolved, and it was finally Karolina who stepped up. "Today's conditions were hard from the start. It was poor rain and pretty cold. Our plan was to ride for Constance as a leader, we did it for the first part of the race but then, she told she didn't feel good with these conditions, and she told me that we had to ride for me", said the Polish rider.

Freshly designated as leader during the race, Karolina Perekitko took on the role seriously. "I tried to be focus as much as possible and ride smooth in the bunch. During local circuit, the speed was going up and it was all about position. I would say honestly I didnt make it perfect and use too much power to jump over the front. I came to the second group and sprinted for 38th place".

Already on the verge of the Top 30 on Thursday at the Kreiz Breizh Elites (32nd), the 26-year-old rider reassured herself over this Breton weekend, after a mixed Tour de France Femmes. "I would say personally that I'm happy about this race. I feel that my confidence is back, and so is my joy for cycling, this amazing passion and job. I don’t usually say these things, but after the Tour de France Femmes, I felt really low. It was kind of a big goal for me. But cycling is all about ups and downs, and it depends on us how we come back from them. I’m super happy that we have an amazing team, and I’m very grateful to be part of it".

Next up for Winspace Orange Seal: the Tour Féminin International de l’Ardèche.

Photo credit : Mathias Pringent