It was a blazing hot sunny day in eastern France when Cédrine Kerbaol won the biggest race of her career. The crucial attack came with just 13 kilometres of stage six of the Tour de France Femmes remaining when she crested the final climb and the rest of her breakaway companions started to tire. Initially, just Pauliena Rooijakkers could follow Kerbaol, but not for long. When the descent began, the Frenchwoman came into her own, speeding around corners and switchbacks with unrivalled skill and precision. Quickly, she was alone, sprinting towards the finish line and the fans who waited to congratulate her in Morteau.
This is how Kerbaol does it. Her four road wins this season have all been solo, products of impeccable timing, glorious race craft and, as she says herself, “winning the mental fight”. For the Ceratizit-WNT rider, cycling is about far more than just having the strongest legs. That, according to her, is why she thrives when others begin to struggle, be that in the closing kilometres of a brutally tough Tour stage, or in the pouring, lashing rain at Tre Valli Varesine a few weeks ago, or when she’s racing against the clock in a tricky time trial.
“When we’re in tough conditions, I'm just thinking that others are disappointed about the weather and that I need to use that as a strength,” Kerbaol explains. “It's not because I like it more, it's more like I try to use everything I can to win. That stage of the Tour, it took a lot of patience. I think that’s always what makes me win, I really wait for a good moment.”
It’s for this same reason that Kerbaol believes she thrives in stage races when it’s about maintaining mental focus and concentration for a prolonged period.
“I prefer GC races, because for me, it's not only a physical fight, it's also a mental one,” she says. “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. It’s a big challenge but I like this type of challenge.”
The 23-year-old is acutely aware of the number of elements that come into play when building herself into the best bike rider she can be. While physicality is important, tactical nous and technical skill is also imperative to winning races. She proved that when she won the white jersey in last year’s Tour de France Femmes, and again in 2024 when she fought hard to finish in sixth place on the general classification (alongside her victory on stage six.) Fans marvelled at Kerbaol’s descent on the Col du Glandon on the final stage this year which got her back to the group of general classification favourites as she pushed the limits on corners, nearing 100 km/h, seemingly with no fear at all.
“I like downhill so much that I just disconnect my brain and I just go and have fun,” Kerbaol laughs. “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.”
Where has this supreme mental strength come from for the French rider? She explains that she had a less traditional route into cycling, growing up in a family that knew nothing about the sport and not beginning to take racing seriously until late into her teens. While she started out mountain biking, Kerbaol says that technical skills were never her strong point, instead she attributes other, off-bike aspects of her past and upbringing which have helped her develop such a good head for bike racing.
“When I was younger at school, I didn't have the best years of my life,” she reflects. “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 explains that even when she signed her first professional contract with Arkéa Pro Cycling Team in 2021, she still continued her studies in sports nutrition alongside racing. Unlike many young cyclists, she didn’t grow up watching races on television or having role models in the sport. At that time, there was no Tour de France Femmes to aim for and professional bike racing wasn’t necessarily a realistic career choice for the Frenchwoman. She argues that growing up relatively unattached from the sport helped her forgo too much pressure as her career has progressed.
“I see a lot of kids who come from professional cycling families and sometimes I see that it’s more the parents living their dreams through the kids,” Kerbaol says. “That’s never what my parents did, they’re happy for me if I do well but if I don’t, it’s really not the end of the world. I don’t have that kind of pressure and I try not to put so much on myself, I manage to be relaxed while also having ambition.”
Kerabol has managed to stay level-headed despite her relatively fast rise to the top of French cycling. In just two years, she has been cast into the spotlight with her Tour de France successes in front of a home crowd.
“When I won the white jersey, I realised at that point that nobody knew me, and suddenly everybody started to know me, in particular in France,” she muses. “But it was very special. Winning that gave me confidence and also winning the national time trial championship in France. My ambition grew after all this.”
Racing for a team like Ceratizit-WNT has also been positive for Kerabol’s development. While the German squad isn’t one of the biggest in the Women’s WorldTour, being part of it has given Kerabol plenty of leadership opportunities and space to develop and grow.
“The team was a good choice for me, they helped me develop as a young rider and gave me opportunities. I got the role of a leader more this year which helped my confidence and learning how to race. I've heard people say that you need to learn from leaders in big teams before you become a leader yourself and I think for some riders that’s true, but for others, it doesn’t have to be like that,” Kerabol says. “I got space, which was nice for my development.”
The Brittany-born rider also comments that working with a new trainer helped improve her form over the last few seasons: “It’s been two years since I have had my new trainer and we did stuff step by step. There's not so much difference between this winter and the winter before, but I took some experience and I progressed on the physical aspect,” she explains.
“I would say it happened naturally with my age and I also learnt a lot from the strategic aspect which made a big difference. It’s been step by step and this winter we will continue in this way, with no big changes.”
With her results this season and the reputation she is building as both a prolific one-day and stage racer, there’s every possibility that Kerabol is a future Tour de France Femmes winner, something she admits is a career goal of hers. Nothing seems to faze the Frenchwoman, be that bad weather, technical courses or hairy descents. Her mental strength is as strong as her physical strength, and her desire to improve is evident. If you have only just learned Cédrine Kerbaol’s name in the last couple of seasons, take note, because it’s one that we are likely to be hearing a lot more often.
“The Tour is my dream race to win. It’s the hardest race of the year and the most beautiful,” she says. “To get there, I need to develop everything, physically, on the skills aspect, continuing to work on my downhill, on the nutrition aspect. I’m always going to try to do more.”
