Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) said she was "very happy" to finish third overall at the Tour de France Femme avec Zwift after "surviving" the last two days of climbing.

The Polish rider defended his podium position at the Tour de France Femme with a fifth place finish on stage 7 and a fourth place finish on stage 8.

"To be honest, I don't think I had enough time to make up my mind yet," he said. But to finish in the top three overall at the Tour de France Femme Avec Zwift is something I've dreamed about ever since I knew this race was on the calendar."

"So I'm overjoyed and proud of my teammates.

Niewiadoma has not been out of the top three overall since joining a five-rider attack on Provins on stage 2.

"Personally, I'm enjoying the first couple of days," she said. I really enjoyed the first six stages especially because I like explosive, punchy climbs."

Leading up to this race, Niewiadoma was particularly focused on surviving the climbs, taking six weeks off from racing to specialize in long-duration training.

"I think the majority of my career has been focused on short, punchy efforts that prepare you very well for the classics," he said.

"Knowing that the last two stages were going to be very hard, spending a couple of weeks in the mountains preparing for this race showed me that with the right preparation and training, I could really improve."

This hard work certainly paid off in a weekend of brutally hard climbs dominated by winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). The Tour de France Femme is only in its inaugural edition, but already ranks as one of the toughest competitions on the calendar.

"Yesterday's stage in particular was the hardest race we've ever done," said the Tour de France team leader. Today was all about surviving and pushing the limits."

Amidst all the joy, there is one disappointment that lingers in Nienyadoma's mind. She is not necessarily angry about missing out on the stage win, but she laments the fact that she missed the opportunity to at least contend for the win.

"Definitely, if I hadn't crashed on stage 3, I would have arrived in the last kilometer fresher and been able to fight for the win. In a way, that was a heartbreaking stage for me."