{"id":2002169,"date":"2026-06-20T13:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T10:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2002169"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T10:31:18","slug":"tour-de-suisse-women-set-for-cliffhanger-finish-following-tt-upheaval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2002169","title":{"rendered":"Tour de Suisse Women Set for Cliffhanger Finish Following TT Upheaval"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281925113.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Shane Stokes<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated June 20, 2026 07:35AM<\/div>\n
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A huge showdown is brewing at the Tour de Suisse Women following a dramatic time trial Saturday, one day in advance of one of the toughest mountain stages on this year\u2019s race calendar.<\/p>\n

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Defending Suisse champion Marlen Reusser went into the stage back in fifth place overall, with her 55 second deficit to Elisa Longo Borghini due in part to going the wrong way on stage two.<\/p>\n

However the Swiss Movistar Team rider put in a dominant performance in the flat 23.7km time trial in Aarburg, tearing around the course to decimate her GC rivals.<\/p>\n

The world TT champion beat stage 3 sprint winner Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) by 11 seconds but, crucially, bettered the time of Longo Borghini by 1\u201905 to overhaul her in the general classification and to seize the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very hard, really very, very hard. I went really hard from the start and I was suffering a lot,\u201d Reusser said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOf course you go fast, but you don\u2019t know if the others go faster. This course feels fast anyway, even if you don\u2019t go fast. I didn\u2019t know anything until I arrived at the finish line. Everything for me was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reusser\u2019s leap up the general classification was made a little more straightforward by the withdrawal of Lauren Dickson (FDJ United \u2013 Suez), who was sitting second overall but was a non-starter due to a fractured collarbone suffered close to Friday\u2019s stage end.<\/p>\n

Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Steffi H\u00e4berlin (SD Worx-Protime) were 20 seconds and 1 second ahead of her in the overall, with Kasia Niewiadoma just three seconds behind.<\/p>\n

However Reusser delivered on her superior TT pedigree in the test, hammering Niewiadoma by 1.46, Van Dam by 1.55 and H\u00e4berlin by 2.27 over the 23.7km distance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tomorrow is going to be super tough\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Marlen
Marlen Reusser looked very aero and blasted around the course to win the TT (Photo: Pascal von B\u00fcren\/Eurasia Sport Images\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Longo Borghini did what she could to resist but ended up losing over a minute and, with that, the Tour de Suisse Women\u2019s yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis year I think I can\u2019t really do TTs, I don\u2019t know why,\u201d the Italian said. \u201cI just can\u2019t really push the power I would like to, the one that I would usually push on the road bike. It is a bit disappointing, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to defend myself as much as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reusser ended the day ten seconds clear of her in the overall. C\u00e9drine Kerboal (EF Education-Oatly) put in a solid performance to place tenth in the TT and jumps four places to third overall. She is 1:20 back. Van Dam slips to fourth, 1:35 behind, while Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Femke De Vries is at 1:43 and Niewiadoma I at 1:49.<\/p>\n

Kim Le Court (AG Insurance Soudal) is at 2:01.<\/p>\n

What will have the Tour de Suisse organizers rubbing their hands with glee is Sunday\u2019s final stage. It is a 101.1km race starting and finishing in Villars-sur-Ollon and features two categorized climbs and also the unclassified but taxing summit finish.<\/p>\n

There is hardly a meter of flat roads and, in total, the rider will rack up 3160 meters of climbing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is a day that is exceptionally hard,\u201d said Reusser. \u201cIt is really a special course. I think one weak moment, one weak day, weakness of legs can change the whole GC for sure. Not only getting me out of yellow but also for others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think tomorrow is going to be super tough and who is going to win, and who is going to be where, we will see at the end of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s really exiting\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Elisa
Elisa Longo Borghini rode hard to try to defend yellow but now needs to fight back on Sunday (Photo: Pascal von B\u00fcren\/Eurasia Sport Images\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reusser took two stages last year plus the overall, beating Demi Vollering by 36 seconds and Niewiadoma by 1:56.<\/p>\n

However Longo Borghini has looked stronger than Reusser thus far on the climbs of this year\u2019s race. She was philosophical about losing time in the TT and, tellingly, hinted at a degree of optimism about the final stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure to lose a minute and ten on Marlen is okay, she is the world champion,\u201d she said. \u201cI would have liked to keep the jersey, but it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

She appeared optimistic when asked her thoughts about Sunday\u2019s Suisse concluder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to be honest. I am looking forward to tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Niewiadoma was climbing best of all on the opening stage, although she seemed to detonate her own legs when she put in repeated attacks on the penultimate climb of stage two and then couldn\u2019t follow Longo Borgini on the final ascent.<\/p>\n

On her day she is arguably the best pure climber in the peloton and will go all in on Sunday to try to turn things around. Being 1:49 is undoubtedly a setback, but with riders such as Kerbaol, Van Dam and Le Court also more than a minute behind, alliances are more than possible.<\/p>\n

If Reusser and Longo Borghini become enmeshed in a personal battle there may be room for a daring long range move, perhaps with ace descenders Kerbaol and Niewiadoma letting fly on one of the two descents of the Col de la Croix.<\/p>\n

Swiss favorite Reusser is in the driving seat for now but with such a daunting day to come, nothing is guaranteed and everything is possible.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Shane Stokes<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated June 20, 2026 07:35AM<\/div>\n
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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tour-suisse-women-tt-upheaval\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281925113.jpg”] Shane Stokes Updated June 20, 2026 07:35AM A huge showdown is brewing at the Tour de Suisse Women following a dramatic time trial Saturday, one day in advance of one of the toughest mountain stages on this year\u2019s race calendar. Defending Suisse champion Marlen Reusser went into the stage back in fifth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2002169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2002169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2002169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2002169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2002169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}