The Tashkent City Girls responded to criticism after several riders fell or abandoned in the opening stage of the Tour de France women's race, saying their presence alone was a “victory” for cycling.

The Uzbekistan team made history as the first Central Asian team to start the Tour de France with both men and women, but more than half of the team left the race in the Dutch heat, unable to keep pace with the World Tour peloton on the first stage to The Hague The disastrous result overshadowed his debut.

“We lost four riders on the first stage, so the team was not in great shape, but we are a mono-national team and this is our first Tour de France, so I can say we are at the halfway point,” Sportif director Volodymyr Starczyk said after the stage, He told Cycling News after the stage.

“For MonoNation, which has very few female riders in the country, I think it's a big deal to be part of the Tour de France femme. They need time to achieve big results."

When it was announced that Tashkent had qualified for all women's World Tour races, including the Tour de France, by finishing in the top 18 in the women's team rankings, Tashkent received much criticism on social media [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]