The theft of Team BikeExchange's bicycles could have spelt the end of their race if not for the kindness of rival teams, but they then went out and performed to make the most of the second chance they had been given. They took a stage win, third on the general classification, and also sent off the retiring Lucy Kennedy with a fine third-place in the final race of her career.
Ane Santesteban, the team's Spanish climbing recruit this year, showcased her impressive second half of the season form as she finished third overall behind winner Leah Thomas (Movistar) and Mavi Garcia (Ale BTC Ljubljana). However, the biggest moment of catharsis came with Teniel Campbell's Stage 6 victory, sprinting to the win from the breakaway, her first since switching to the Australian squad at the start of the season.
“It’s a first win from me with Team BikeExchange and I will cherish and remember it for a long time as it was such an amazing team effort,” said Campbell in the Team BikeExchange report. “The first one for the season does indeed feel extremely good.”
That wouldn't have been possible without the sacrifice of a number of teams, with Liv Racing, Trek-Segafredo and Movistar lending them bikes and equipment to finish the race.
“Thankfully the women’s peloton is full of great people and we would like to share our gratitude to the teams that rallied around to help us get our riders to the start line today after our bikes were stolen overnight,” said Team BikeExchange on Twitter after the incident.
The race was also Australia’s Lucy Kennedy (Team BikeExchange) farewell to riding as a professional, with the San Sebastian and Herald Sun Tour winner having announced the decision last month, and discussed the reasons for it in an interview with SBS Cycling Central.
The Australian climber was on the attack in her final outing as a professional cyclist, drawing the curtain on her four-year career in the women's WorldTour peloton with third place on the final stage.
“I was determined to have a crack at the stage today to go out on a high,” said Kennedy. “It wasn’t quite the fairytale finish, but I fought as hard as I could and am happy with a podium.”
The 33-year-old got into the break on the final day's racing, only 82km long, attacking on the final climb which summited 13 kilometres from the finish. Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) counter-attacked over the top of Kennedy and then extended her lead on the descent to the finish to extend her lead over the Australian and Jeanne Korevaar (Liv Racing). Brand came over the line 47 seconds ahead of Korevaar and just over a minute in front of Kennedy.
In her final race for Team BikeExchange, Kennedy was back on the podium as the squad won the team classification.
“The atmosphere this whole week has been really special, amongst all the riders and staff,” said Kennedy. ”It was one of the most complete and cohesive team efforts I’ve been a part of and we achieved some great results to reflect this.”
“We overcame the huge challenge of the bikes being stolen and came out of it in a really positive way. The whole week has cemented what a wonderful team I’ve been lucky to be a part of for the last four years.”
