Her work with amateur cycling communities revealed a gap between professional racing and everyday riders.
"In my new life, not as a pro rider anymore, I learned so much about the other kind of cyclists – women that just ride their bike for fun," said Slappendel.
"They're not focused on racing or getting faster or watts or whatever.
They just want to have fun on their bikes, and I just noticed that there is so little connection between pro racing and the grassroots community, especially for women."
Slappendel emphasized the distinct cultural dynamics within male and female amateur riding groups.
"When I ride with the guys here [in the Netherlands], they're always talking about racing and Mathieu van der Poel and [Tadej] Pogačar, etc.
," said Slappendel. "But when I ride with women, they're hardly ever talking about racing or women's racing.
So I thought I needed to get these two worlds connected in some way."
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Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM, and Vuelta España Femenina winner Paula Blasi are among the key contenders aiming for the general classification title as stage one gets underway in Lausanne.
