Cédrine Kerbaol beautifully points out the mental aspect of descending: "Then I just disconnect my brain"

That Friday, on the day's final climb, Kerbaol went on the attack. Pauliena Rooijakkers could still keep up but had to let the Frenchwoman go on the descent. That was because the Dutchwoman could not descend as well as Kerbaol, who threw herself down. A combination of skill and guts. Why did the 23-year-old Ceratizit-WNT rider descend so fast? she explained herself.

"I like downhill so much that I just disconnect my brain, and I just go and have fun," laughed Kerbaol, who had never focused much on the downhill. "I've not done any training for specific downhill; it's just the feeling; I think it's mental. Everything is in the brain for the downhill," she refers to the mental issue during a descent.

That mental aspect is what the Frenchwoman is so good at. That is precisely why she likes stage races better than one-day races. "Those are not only a physical fight but also a mental one. After a few days, it's a bit like the Hunger Games and I find that quite fun. Anything can happen. You need to take care not to crash and not to be injured or fall sick." Those are precisely the challenges Kerbaol claims to enjoy.

Kerbaol recently concluded her season with a victory in the Tre Valli Varesine. Then, according to her, the mental aspect also emerged again, as it became a race in apocalyptic conditions. "Especially then I think about the fact that the others are fed up with the weather," the Frenchwoman said of those difficult days. "I then try to use that as a strength. It's not because I like it myself, but because I try to use everything around me to win."

So how did last Tour's number six get that strong mindset? That built up early in her life. "When I was younger at school, I didn't have the best years of my life. I think it built something in my head, which was like: you just need to focus on yourself, don't care about the others, and do your thing. I had to try and persuade myself that what I was doing was right, even if it wasn't the same as what everyone else was doing," Kerbaol looks back on a difficult period.