'People can think what they want' - Tashkent City Women respond to criticism after four riders abandon Tour de France Femmes

ROTTERDAM NETHERLANDS AUGUST 12 A general view of Yanina Kuskova of Uzbekistan Mohinabonu Elmurodova of Uzbekistan Madina Kakhorova of Uzbekistan Nafosat Kozieva of Uzbekistan Ekaterina Knebeleva of Uzbekistan Margarita Misyurina of Uzbekistan Asal Rizaeva of Uzbekistan and Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team prior to the 3rd Tour de France Femmes 2024 Stage 1 a 123km stage from Rotterdam to The Hague UCIWWT on August 12 2024 in Rotterdam Netherlands Photo by Dario BelingheriGetty Images
Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team is presented to the public prior to the start of stage 1, (Image credit: Getty Images)

Tashkent City Women have responded to criticism after several of their riders got dropped and abandoned during the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes, stating that their presence here alone is a “victory” for cycling. 

While the Uzbek team made history as the first central Asian team to start a Tour de France, men’s or women’s, their debut was overshadowed by a dismal display in the Netherlands heat, with more than half their team not being able to live with the WorldTour peloton’s pace on stage 1 into The Hague and leaving the race.

James Moultrie
News Writer

James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.