Cédrine Kerbaol - A look back at her Tour de France in the white jersey and preview of the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow

Published August 8, 2023

Like us, are you counting down the hours to the first women's races at the 2023 Road World Championships and Time Trial in Glasgow? The question is, which riders will win and wear one of the most prestigious jerseys in professional cycling? 🌈
Let's take a look at the Scottish course and what it holds in store for the riders, the names to watch out for and the impressions of recent Tour de France Femmes 2023 white jersey winner and French time trial champion Cédrine Kerbaol.

Find out more about the TDF Femmes 2023 on our interview with Cédrine before the start of the race.

Women's race schedule

Title holders :

Women's road race - Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)
Women's time trial - Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands)
U23 Women's road race - Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand)
U23 Women's time trial - Vittoria Guazzini (Italy)

The routes

Road race
Unlike last year's sunny Australia, Glasgow's streets are likely to be wet - which will confirm the UK's reputation for always being rainy, even in summer! We're keeping the 2019 World Championships in Harrogate in mind🌧️
Weather aside, the course profiles are pretty similar. The final section of the race, however, is incredibly technical, with lots of tight turns. This profile could favour certain XC girls, such as Italy's Silvia Persico. The constant acceleration out of the corners is an unusual effort, so it will be interesting to see how it affects the runners, particularly in the final laps.

At the start in Loch Lomond, the runnershead east towards Glasgow before reaching the first difficulty of the day, Crow Road. The 5.6 km climb at 4.8% ends after 33 km, 30 km before entering the leg-intensive 14.5 km final circuit, on which the girls will complete 6 laps. There are no major climbs on the circuit, which is constantly rolling. The final ramp reaches 13% just 1.5 km from the line and begins just after a tight right-hand bend. Getting to the front will be vital, especially if you want to minimize energy loss.

Time trial
This year's course has a similar distance and gradient to last year's, but on less technical and less rolling roads. The start is flat and fast, with a few small bumps. After 28 kilometers, the road begins to climb and becomes progressively more difficult, including the final 800-meter climb to Stirling Castle, the second half of which is entirely paved.

Riders to look out for

Road race
Among the strongest teams are the Netherlands, with girls like Demi Vollering (Tour de France 2023 yellow jersey), Annemiek van Vleuten and Marianne Vos as well as several other strong runners who can help support the leaders. However, in the past, this team has lacked cohesion. The Italian team is made up of 9 girls, including Elisa Balsamo and Silvia Persico. France brings strength in depth with a team made up of Juliette Labous and Cédrine Kerbaol while the home team, Great Britain, includes top runners such as Elizabeth Deignan and Pfeiffer Georgi.
Other names include Lotte Kopecky of Belgium, Marlen Reusser from Switzerland, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland), Liane Lippert (Germany), Grace Brown (Australia), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) and Ashleigh Moolman (South Africa). 

The time trial
After dominant Time Trial performances at Le Tour de France Femmes by Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Demi Vollering (Netherlands) they will be some of the favourites to pull on the Rainbow Jersey. Grace Brown from Australia is also very strong and will be up there with the best but keep an eye out for Cédrine Kerbaol and her custom French champs painted Orbea especially in the U23 classification. Riejanne Markus, the teammate of Demi Vollering and National Champion of Netherland’s should also put in a solid performance but it’s all to play for as the current reigning champion Ellen van Dijk is on maternity leave for the 2023 season with her eyes set on Paris 2024.

Inside Cédrine Kerbaol's head after her first Tour de France and before her first elite world championships

After an incredible Tour de France, Cédrine quickly turned her attention to Glasgow. The winner of the young rider classification at the world's biggest cycling race has gained the confidence she needs to count in the race for the rainbow jersey, but first she looks back on her Tour de France performance.

"I realised how important the White Jersey was when I heard everyone shouting for me on the Tourmalet."

Reflecting on the last stage Cédrine said “I was very tired but in a good way, it gave me more motivation for the final push”, I think it’s fair to say most girls were tired but “with the French crowd supporting me it added to my determination”. When asked about her custom TT bike she replied, “I never expected to see that, but it was the best bike I have ever seen!” surely adding to her motivation to win the White Jersey.

"I have my card to play in the U23 time trial."

Although it’s not the focus of the French team for the Road Race there is a great opportunity for Cédrine to pull on her first Rainbow Jersey in the time trial, and it probably won’t be the last having seen the way Cédrine is developing as a rider. “I will focus on each race 1 by 1” each race being the Mixed Time Trial, Individual Time Trial and the Road Race.

"Completely unfair to not have a U23 Women’s Road Race."

While we're very excited about her participation in the World Championships, many are wondering why there's no road race for the U23 women when there is one for the men. This is Cédrine's last year in this age category, and it's particularly frustrating for the young woman. "Every year, new generations of female cyclists miss the opportunity to prove who's the best. I don't understand why it's like this, it doesn't make sense to me." It's fair to say that it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, and hopefully this will soon be rectified.
Asked what Cédrine is looking forward to after Glasgow, she replied "sleeping", underlining the busy life of a professional cyclist. The 2023 season is already well underway, and among the not-to-be-missed races that remain are the Tour de l'Avenir Femmes, the GP Plouay and the Gravel World Championships in October. Keep an eye on Cédrine at the GP Plouay, we've seen the effect of local roads on the last 2 stages of the Tour and I'm sure the support will be strong where it all began, back home in Brittany!