Charlotte Kool aims for Tour de France Femmes success after rediscovering her best legs

Words by Daniel Benson

In July Team dsm-firmenich PostNL opened the men’s Tour de France with a famous stage victory and a yellow jersey for home favourite Romain Bardet. It was one of the team’s proudest moments and on August 12^th the Women’s program will hope to replicate that feat when the Tour de France Femmes gets underway in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Dutch sprinter Charlotte Kool is the team’s best hope of winning the opening stage and pulling on the maillot jaune for the first time in her career. The 25-year-old is eager to impress on home roads after a difficult start to the campaign, and she will be ably assisted through the French Grand Tour by her expert lead-out train, which includes Rachele Barbieri and Pfeiffer Georgi.

Kool had to wait a while before opening her account this season but after winning a stage in the Baloise Ladies Tour, the Dutch rider is hitting form at just the right time. With her momentum and confidence heading in the right direction, the sprinter is ready for the Tour.

“I’m really excited about the Tour de France Femmes. At the Baloise Ladies Tour, I didn’t feel 100 percent yet because I had some problems but that’s all gone and I’m feeling fit again. I’m healthy and ready for the biggest goal of the year,” Kool said after the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL line-up for the Tour de France Femmes was announced earlier this week.

Kool enjoyed a hugely successful campaign in 2023 but this season she was hampered by illnesses and bad luck. She picked up a bug in the early spring which left her playing catch up, but despite that setback, Kool still racked up plenty of podium places in the Spring Classics and early season stage races.

“I got sick in February. I know that was a really long time ago, but it was still not great timing as I came out of the winter with sickness. By then the racing had started and I needed to build up again. I had some breathing problems but that’s totally fixed now. We didn’t know exactly what the problem was but after Baloise we found out and now it’s getting better and better with each passing day. Hopefully, it all comes together because basically the whole season is based on the Tour,” she said.

Kool has dealt excellently with the pressure throughout this season. She was second in Scheldeprijs and Classic Brugge-De Panne, but even when faced with questions over her lack of victories her perspective was always to focus on the process of finding her best condition, rather than fixating on the win tally itself. Such a mindset took confidence and belief in herself and those around her. The stage win in Baloise was proof that Kool was on the right track at just the right time.

“I think a lot of people were saying I hadn’t won all year, but I honestly didn’t feel it like that. For me, it was more about why I didn’t feel as good in training and races because, in the last few months, I didn’t feel totally fit or at 100 percent. I was more concerned with that than any victory, to be honest. That first win in Baloise was very nice for the team. The girls have done so many nice things for me this entire year, it was nice to finally give them that victory,” she added.

With the Tour kicking off on home roads Kool is hoping that her knowledge of Rotterdam will pay off. Her partner lives in the Dutch city, so she has already trained on some of the flat roads that will feature in stage one. That, accompanied by the Dutch support she will receive, will inspire Kool to focus on winning her maiden Tour stage. What’s more, her family, including her siblings and her grandmother will be on the roadside to cheer her on. This is a chance for Kool to create some everlasting memories for not just herself but also her team, family and cycling fans throughout the world.

“It’s huge that the race starts in the Netherlands. This can give women’s cycling a major boost and it’s exciting that I’ll be able to race on some of the roads I’ve trained on before. It’s special,” Kool said.

“With the sprints, we aim to go for the win. That’s been my goal since the winter and I’m really looking forward to the two sprints at the start of the race. There’s also a yellow jersey waiting on the first day, so that’s the biggest goal for me. Even last year at the Tour I was aiming for yellow on the first day and a lot of people thought that I was crazy because of the final climb but I got third. There were two riders stronger than me on that day but this time it looks more possible for me. When I saw the course, this became a really big goal. Last year I won everywhere apart from in the Tour, and this year I hope it’s the other way around,” she added.