Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) is making her second appearance at the Tour de France Femmes as the Olympic Games road race and Team Pursuit champion, however, it isn’t her newly acquired gold bands and gold-detailed bike that she’s most thankful for, but simply being healthy at the start of cycling’s biggest race.
Her first appearance at the inaugural 2022 edition delivered a pre-race case of COVID-19 to dampen her preparations and three early crashes led to her only finishing in the top 25 of one stage. After a successful Giro d'Italia Women it became a Tour of survival for the Alaskan. Still, survive she did, all the way to the top of La Super Planche des Belles Filles, 26:02 down on 2022 race winner and stage victor on that day, Annemiek van Vleuten.
