In his Dictionnaire des idées reçues, an unfinished dictionary book, French writer Gustave Flaubert described Bretons as 'braves gens, mais entêtés' – brave but stubborn people. While the short book lampooned clichés endemic to French society under the Second French Empire, Flaubert’s observations can still somewhat be applied to professional cyclists who hail from the Brittany region. Maeva Squiban, the most recent winner in the 2025 edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, embodies these characteristics to perfection.
The rider from Brest made her attack in the closing kilometres during the toughest stage of this race so far, and the move was a product of both her and her team’s pure, unwavering determination. This race has not granted UAE Team ADQ any favours – in fact, it has thrown challenge after challenge at the Emirati squad. They lost their leader and pre-race favourite, Elisa Longo Borghini, to illness in the early stages of the race, then subsequently said goodbye to two more riders in Eleonora Gasparrini and Karlijn Swinkels as a virus swept through the team. Holding on to motivation with just four riders taking to the start line has not been easy.
“We've been hit by injury and illness. We started this morning with four riders, but four mighty riders. We believed in them one hundred percent. We came here for the stages, and we knew that if we found the right moment, we had a nice little plan and I'm delighted for the whole team. We never lose hope,” UAE Team ADQ sports director Cherie Pridham commented a few moments after Squiban took her solo stage victory in Ambert, her eyes glassy with emotion. The British woman’s voice was hoarse from shouting into the race radio for the last hour, encouraging her team’s young French superstar to victory.
“With four riders, we had to be smart. We wanted to make sure that we were in the breakaway to cover the move either by satellites or by opportunity. We told Maeva this morning, if you find an opportunity, you attack. She did that. She took the chance for and to win with such a margin and such a fight, being French here in the Tour de France, it's incredible. She's a little powerful climber, she just knows how to ride the climbs. She's very intelligent,” Pridham continued.
Squiban’s teammate, Dominika Włodarczyk, who finished fifth on the stage from the group of general classification favourites, said that keeping morale high within the team has been imperative to their success in the Tour de France Femmes so far.
Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) in the day's break (Image: Tornanti.cc)
“We have Brodie Chapman and I think this is the answer. She's always smiling. Not only her, Maeva too, we really were trying to keep motivation high, keep vibes high. It's never easy because you wake up, you go to breakfast and then you hear from your team doctor that another rider is out. Again, again, again. We really were hoping that we were working for something and maybe one day we can achieve it, and I guess we achieved it today,” the Polish rider grinned.
“They always said that after downs, it has to be some ups. To be honest, since the very beginning of the Tour, I really felt like we had only downs because on the second stage so many of us went out with a virus. Today we started with four riders. In a bunch like we have here it is always hectic, nervous. Even if you have seven riders in the team, it's hard to stay in the front to be safe. Today we did it with four.”
While it was Squiban who stood on the top step of the podium in Ambert on Thursday, Włodarczyk stressed that it was a team effort to secure the biggest victory of the Frenchwoman’s career: “Today we started with four riders and everybody did an amazing job. Lara [Gillespie] was with us with the bottles until she could. Then Brodie [Chapman] was in the front from the very beginning so me and Maeva could stay in the bunch easily. She was just the best today. It wasn't like she went and nobody was chasing her when she attacked, all of FDJ-Suez and all AG Insurance-Soudal were chasing her. I could hear in my ear that her gap was growing and it made me so proud. It was amazing.”
While many may not have heard the name Maeva Squiban ahead of stage six – her win has now catapulted her into the spotlight on the world stage – her teammates believe that success on this level is no surprise.
“To be honest, I expected this. I was riding with her first on those French races and I was riding with her here. She's not super confident in the bunch and this really said a lot to me because she was always able to finish the first group. I knew that she's super, super strong. But I don't know if I was expecting she's such a strong ride, today was exceptional,” Włodarczyk admitted.
Squiban herself embodied the spirit of the Breton people in her attack. She told the media after the stage that she simply thought “why not?” when it came to the moment to move. Once she had her gap, it was a case of living up to the stubbornness and bravery that those hailing from her region are known for. The 23-year-old rode on pure instinct, doing the simple things right. It was this, combined with the force of a team who will never stop believing, which brought her success.
“I just wanted to push on the pedals and see what would happen behind me when I was alone. I just wanted to continue straight, keep my own pace, see what happened behind me and finally I was alone to the finish line. It was an amazing feeling to be able to have a solo win,” Squiban grinned in her post-race press conference.
“I was really happy to make it on the podium for the combative prize in Brittany after my attack earlier this week, as that was on my training roads in front of my family. Today is an even more special moment. To win here is like a dream.”
