Just over twenty-four hours after tackling Col de Joux Plane and Col du Corbier and finishing the Tour de France Femmes at Châtel Les Portes du Soleil, Rachele Barbieri climbed onto the track at the Pavesi Velodrome in Fiorenzuola to take part in the Six Days of Roses Grand Prix. "I missed track races, I wanted to return and last month I decided to race in Fiorenzuola, being here is a great pleasure, I feel at home" - said the 28-year-old from Emilia, registered with Team Picnic PostNL and the Fiamme Oro Sports Group to tuttobiciweb. "My condition isn't the best, I won't hide that I'm a bit tired after the Tour de France. The level of athletes competing was extremely high and the course was very tough, especially in the last two days".

The fatigue accumulated over nine stages seems to vanish when Rachele tells us about the atmosphere of the French race: "It was beautiful, every day we pedaled supported by huge crowds along the roads, there was great support for all of us literally at every kilometer of the course. I believe this is something important for women's cycling".

Analyzing her Tour and her team's overall performance, Barbieri states: "Despite being nine very demanding and by no means simple days for sprinters, in the end the balance is positive. The team won the classification with Nienke Vinke, we interpreted the race from the start by attacking with the desire to be protagonists. Unfortunately, we lost Charlotte Kool early (who did not start in the second stage, ed.) and not having our sprint leader was a big disappointment. I had the opportunity to do the sprints, the first one didn't go well because a crash compromised my sprint, while in the Poitiers stage we did an excellent team work and placing seventh was a great satisfaction".

Now Rachele will recharge her batteries for the last part of the season: "You won't see me for a while" - she tells us smiling - "I'll rest and return to racing at the end of August in Plouay, then the Simac Ladies Tour (2-7 September) could be the last race of my season".