Emily Watts just wants to learn as much as she can at the biggest race in the world.
Emily Watts (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) was wearing her trademark smile when she stopped for a chat in La Gacilly. That wasn’t a given – Watts might be one of the most upbeat and energetic riders in the entire peloton, but this is her first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and, so far, it’s been a challenging introduction for the 24-year-old Australian.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” she told Escape. “I think that’s the word on everyone’s lips.”
She’s not wrong. Ask just about any of the riders how the start of this year’s Tour has been and they’ll echo Watts’ assessment. Challenging courses, hard racing – that’s difficult enough when you’re an experienced pro who’s raced at WorldTour level for many years. But if you’re like Watts, and only in your second season in the European peloton, the racing is on another level entirely.
“I think you come into this race and you know it’s the best of the best, and it’s the race that everyone’s been training their hardest for all year,” she said. “But you don’t realise it until you’re actually in the race, and you’re even suffering in the neutral or suffering in a feed zone. So it’s a real reality check, I guess.”
The Tour didn’t begin particularly well for Watts, winner of Australia’s National Road Series back in 2023.
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