Rachel Neylan has not had an easy road these past few seasons, as she was part of a team that did not get off to the start she had hoped for in 2020. But now the conditions and opportunities are right, and she is leading her new team, Cofidis, in the Tour de France Femme.

"I've been working hard the last few months, but I've also been working hard the last year and the last two years," the rugged Australian told Cycling News on Zwift a few days before the Tour de France Femme. 'It's been the most consistent, uninterrupted two-year training period of my career.'

Of course, to reap the rewards of that on one of the biggest stages in the world, and in the most important target race of the year for Neylan and her French team, is a dream come true. After Simon Geschke's tragic loss of the climber's jersey in the mountains on the final day of the Tour de France, on Sunday, July 24, the mantle of Neylan, Martina Algini, Victoire Berthoud, Alana Castric, Valentine Fortin, and Sandra Levenez The mantle will be given to the women's team.

The race, a total of eight stages through July 31, was originally targeted for Clara Koppenburg to compete in the general category, but a crash at the Giro d'Italia Donnay left her out of the roster. However, a crash at the Giro d'Italia Donne resulted in her being de-registered.

"My goal is always focused on stage chances. Of course, I would never intentionally lose time if the overall standings for stage 3 or stage 4 were in the right direction. But it's a dynamic Tour where every day is full of opportunities, so it's more interesting for me to focus on stage chances than on the overall."

To take on the Tour de France Femmes (four relatively flat stages interspersed with two hilly stages and a finale with a series of mountain stages), Cofidis was always in the top 20 in sprint stages at the Giro d'Italia donne There is also a solid sprint group that includes Martina Argini. Still, there is no doubt that these two days will be crucial for Neylan and the other breakaway contenders. The first is the 133-km third stage to Epernay and the 127-km fourth stage, a combination of climbs and gravel roads to Val-sur-Aube.

"We did a reconnaissance of the third and fourth stages," said the team leader. 'They're not long climbs, they're not short climbs, they all come at the end of the race. I'm really looking forward to stages three and four, that's what I want to focus on."

The move to Cofidis, which launched its women's team this season, was a turning point for Neylan. She is expected to make the Australian team not only for the Tour de France women, but also for the world championships in Naylan's home town of Wollongong, New South Wales.

This is somewhat of a contrast to the past two seasons. Neylan has been signed to the Kronos Casa Dorado team since the beginning of 2020. This team had ambitions of becoming a world team, but did not receive a continental team license until midway through that year. And they had very limited racing days for the remainder of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, especially at the Women's World Tour level.

"I feel like I've been robbed of a year and a half of my career," Neelan told Cycling News at the start of the season in Australia. 'It was an athlete's worst nightmare, partly because of COVID. I was left with a team that had not come to fruition, a race that I could not compete in, and basically my Olympic dream completely shattered.

"I made the decision to either take out my violin and cry or control what I could control. Every day I had the attitude that I was going to be the best and strongest athlete I could be, so I decided to do that and get in the best physical shape I could."

But when he didn't get a chance to show it, his form wasn't good enough.

"Unfortunately, despite being in the best shape of my life, I didn't make it to the Olympic selection races. But I got through it and was able to hit the reset button."

She hit the reset button with a mid-season move to the Parkhotel Valkenburg and immediately finished sixth overall in the Ladies Tour of Norway, earned a spot representing Australia at the World Championships in Flanders, and finished on the podium three times throughout the rest of the season!

"I've been working on my own team for a while now.

"These results speak to the way I disciplined myself and invested in my preparation and performance in 2020 and especially in 2021," Neelan said.

These performances also mean that there is every reason to enter the new season with a positive outlook, and Neilan was full of enthusiasm as he headed to Australia in January wearing the Cofidis red and white kit for the first time. He finished 12th in the Australian Road Championships without missing a single teammate, then jumped into the European races and was in the top group of 18 riders at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. He then made it to the top group again at Ghent-Wevelgem.

Neylan made a promising start to his first important goals of the season, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Neylan had to deal with both bronchitis and COVID-19, and although she competed in these races, the conditions were not what she had hoped for, so her first goal of the season was out of reach.

Still, the 2012 World Championships silver medalist had time to rebuild for her next major goal, the Tour de France Femme. That rebuilding included a strong performance in the break at the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge Femme, where he ceded second place to teammate Koppenburg. During the race, Neelan trained consistently, including two high-altitude training camps.

Now that the preparation is over and the Tour de France Femme is looming, it is time to discover the harvest.

"It's no secret that I am in the twilight of my career. And for this team, for the people who have supported my career, for my family, and for all the choices and sacrifices I have made, I want nothing more than to get results. I've worked very hard my whole career, and I'm very proud of that.

"But also be realistic. It's the biggest stage in the world, the biggest bike race in the world, and it's not easy to get on the podium. So what makes me happy is giving my heart and soul, going deep into every race opportunity, racing with my gut and not cutting corners."