Speed dreams
It is a sign of how far women’s pro cycling has come that when Kasia was a young pro, she couldn’t even dream of yellow.
“I remember when I started dating my husband [former cyclist Taylor Phinney], he would always talk about his dream of wearing the yellow jersey,” she said after taking the jersey on stage five. “I remember thinking it was a shame I couldn’t have those dreams. I thought how women’s cycling was missing such a great opportunity, so it feels so surreal to have the yellow jersey now.”
Unable to follow Demi Vollering over the top of the Col du Glandon on the race’s final stage, and still trailing at the foot of Alpe d’Huez, Kasia rode the climb of a lifetime to doggedly minimise the seconds she was losing to her SD Worx rival.
“To be honest, once again, I lost the faith that I could still do it,” she admitted afterwards. “I went through such a terrible time on this climb. I hated everything.”
Vollering won the stage and the seconds ticked torturously down. It was the greatest finish to a Tour de France in the history of the sport, and Kasia came out on the right side – just.
“To be able to pull it off at the finish line with just a few seconds is a dream come true. It's going to take some time to let everything sink in.”