Sarah Gigante has an infectious energy that shines through whether she is saluting after blowing away her rivals on the toughest of mountain stages, or celebrating every day as much as her successes on social media. The Australian cyclist even keeps her smile beaming while reflecting on a recent health concern that threatened to bring her promising career to a standstill. But hidden just beneath the surface is a killer instinct to “make others hurt”, as well as a steely determination to overcome challenges on and off the bike that have helped lift Gigante into the cycling form of her life.
The 24-year-old is still coming to terms with the thrill and pride taken from finishing on the podium at the Giro d’Italia Donne when she was third overall behind winner Elisa Longo Borghini. Gigante finished 1min 11sec behind the Italian home favourite and defending champion, with Switzerland’s Marien Reusser in between, but claimed a pair of spectacular stage wins when soloing away on mountain-top finishes and cemented her place as the best climber in the race with the Queen of the Mountains jersey.
Gigante says she “wasn’t expecting even one of those four super cool results” but can’t help but wonder what might have been in the race for the maglia rosa, after losing 1min 42sec on the main group including Longo Borghini and Reusser, when her team AG Insurance-Soudal were caught out in crosswinds on stage five. The three-time national champion concedes that she still has room for improvement on the flat as well as downhills, while wanting to build on her strengths in the mountains that are now allowing her to pile on the pain.
“Especially at the end of a tough race, I just love the hard work and pushing myself,” Gigante tells Guardian Australia ahead of this weekend’s start to the 2025 Tour de France Femmes. “And maybe it’s a bit mean, but I love to make others hurt.
“I think that’s why I’m able to come back from the setbacks, because I just love riding so much, no matter how hard it is. It’s my job but mainly it’s my hobby and my passion.”
Gigante’s ability to perform at her best in her job, let alone to just continue to enjoy her hobby and passion, were under threat as she suffered through increasingly regular and intense pain and numbness in her right leg. After several years of frustration without a diagnosis, she was finally found to suffer from iliac artery endofibrosis – a condition that affects the flow of blood and oxygen. “The artery was all scarred and kinked but also going into spasm every time I exercised, so when I needed more blood, I was getting less,” she says.
The eventual diagnosis and operation to correct the condition in December meant a nine-month layoff from world tour racing. But it has allowed Gigante to come back stronger than ever. The rapid return to form for a rider who first burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old when winning a national road race title in 2019 and posting a breakout GC result has sent an ominous warning to her rivals. But now that she is fighting fit, Gigante expects her best is still to come.
“It was actually the worst case the surgeon had seen,” Gigante says. “Since I had it fixed, it has made such a huge difference. I don’t think about my leg at all anymore. I do have two massive, really ugly scars, but I don’t care because I can ride my bike again, happily but also quickly.
“It was seven weeks [after the operation] until I could ride again. It was quite a lot of waiting and trying not to think too much about the ‘what-ifs’. But when I started doing max efforts I was already stronger than when I had been training at the end of last season. The power was already better, almost coming off the couch, just because I had two legs again.”
Gigante now hopes to carry her renewed fitness and imposing form into the Tour de France Femmes when it begins on Saturday. It will be her second time riding the biggest stage-race on the calendar, after she was seventh on general classification behind Kasia Niewiadoma last year. The Netherlands’ Demi Vollering was second when finishing a mere four seconds down on the Polish winner, after a costly and contentious crash on stage five, but is widely considered to be the rider to beat.
Punchy terrain on the opening two stages this year, and sprint finishes that are expected to follow on the next couple of days, have AG Insurance-Soudal earmarking Kim Le Court as their protected GC rider rather than Gigante. The Mauritian has exposed form to challenge for yellow after winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, though Gigante will aim to stay within touching distance of the GC leaders before the race heads to the mountains from stage six.
The GC battle looks set to be shaken up, if not decided, on stage eight which will start with riding 13.2km uphill to Col de Plainpalais, and end with a brutal 18.6km climb at 8.1% to Col de la Madeleine. It looms as Gigante’s time to attack.
“We’re totally different riders,” Gigante says of combining with Le Court in a one-two punch. “We can play off each other for stage results when the opportunity comes, but stage eight does look very nice for me with a big mountain at the end. I’ve definitely had my eye on that one for a while.”
