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Tour de France Femmes<\/a><\/p>\n Emily Watts just wants to learn as much as she can at the biggest race in the world.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 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<\/a> and, so far, it’s been a challenging introduction for the 24-year-old Australian. <\/p>\n \u201cIt’s been pretty crazy,\u201d she told Escape. \u201cI think that’s the word on everyone’s lips.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s not wrong. Ask just about any of the riders how the start of this year\u2019s Tour has been and they\u2019ll echo Watts’ assessment. Challenging courses, hard racing \u2013 that\u2019s difficult enough when you\u2019re an experienced pro who\u2019s raced at WorldTour level for many years. But if you\u2019re like Watts, and only in your second season in the European peloton, the racing is on another level entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said. \u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tour didn\u2019t begin particularly well for Watts, winner of Australia’s National Road Series<\/a> back in 2023.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Matt-de-Neef-150x150.jpg\")
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