It has been almost a year since Simone Boirard contracted a septic infection and lay in a hospital bed, fighting for her life with her mother by her side. 'I almost died,' she told Cycling News in the small town of Meaux, where she prepared to start the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift again." Now I'm here competing in the biggest race in the world."

Boire is a member of the French Continental team, Saint-Michel-Obert 93, which competes in the Tour de France. She finished eighth in the opening stage on the Champs-Elysées in Paris last Sunday.

Her speed was on par with the best sprinters in the world, including Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos, Lotte Kopecký, and world champion Elisa Balsamo.

"I contracted sepsis and almost died," Boilard told Cycling News of her initial symptoms last summer when the infection spread to her kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and blood. The infection spread to his kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and blood and could have been fatal had Boilard waited two more days to seek medical attention.

"I got a urinary tract infection at the same time as the COVID vaccine. I started feeling sick and thought it was from the vaccine, so at first I didn't worry too much; a week later, I felt really bad. The pain was terrible. I became septic and was hospitalized for two weeks. Honestly, it was awful."

Boilard's septic infection was the most recent in a series of other problems she battled through; after winning the bronze medal in the junior road race at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Salzburg, she began experiencing what she thought was a form of chronic fatigue. Initially, she thought it must be overtraining, which affected her both physically and mentally.

Doctors later determined that she had iliac artery endarticular fibrosis and needed surgery to correct it. However, because COVID-19 was prevalent until December 2020, "I had to take a full season to recover from it," Boirad said.

"After surgery and rehab, I couldn't wait to get back on the bike, but then I developed a septic infection and was stuck for another month and a half. It was really sad."

Once he recovered from the septic infection and began living in Nice with his partner, Boire began riding his bike for fun and enjoyed the Mediterranean region. After a few weeks, she began to get back into shape, albeit not at her best."

She connected with the Saint-Michel-Auber 93 team, won a local race, the Boucle de Seine-et-Marne, and began training for bigger races on the international calendar. It was a long and arduous struggle to get back to her best in cycling. Still, she believes her efforts have paid off with several top-10 finishes this spring. She finished on the stage podium at the Brittany Ladies Tour, 10th overall at the RideLondon Classic, 6th at the Diamond Tour, and 5th in the time trial and 3rd in the road race at the Canadian Nationals under 23 event.

"I loved riding my bike again and my competitive spirit was back. I knew I wanted to race again. I'm healthy and I've had some good races this year. Now I'm racing in the Tour de France. Finally, I can express myself on the bike again.

Boire celebrated her 22nd birthday on July 21 before the start of the Tour de France femme. She said the birthday gave her a chance to reflect on the year that had passed, and that she was grateful to have made it through the most difficult time of her life.

"I usually like to look back on the year I've had, because it's a time to reflect on what I've been through," she said. As an athlete, it's easy to forget the past in order to focus on the next goal. I'm a competitive person, so now that I'm back on the bike, I'm thinking about how I can win and how I can get on the podium. Now I feel far from that goal. It can be discouraging," Boirard said.

"But looking back on my year, I can say I'm pretty fast, and that's a good thing. I took time to reflect and I'm proud of what I've done. It's important to stop looking to the future and just enjoy life and celebrate what I've been through. My biggest goal this year is to stay healthy for the entire season. Life is finally giving me a break.