It was almost another dream victory for Fenix-Deceuninck at the first stage of the Tour de Romandie after Carina Schrempf’s gutsy late-race move, but the Austrian national champion was caught on the line by the chasing bunch and it was Sofia Bertizzolo of UAE Team ADQ who took her first WorldTour victory. SD Worx’s Mischa Bredewold finished third just behind Schrempf.
- The entire stage was aggressive with move after move attempting to get away. Marlen Reusser was worth her weight in chocolate out there, pulling back a massive amount of attacks. The aggressive nature of the race reduced the peloton down to only 53 riders by the end of the stage and made the chase of Schrempf’s attack a bit delayed.
- Schrempf went for a late move with 2.8 km to go and managed to get a good enough gap that she celebrated the victory only to be passed on the line by Bertizzolo. It was close enough that she held on for second place, another great result for the young Belgian team.
Stage 1 results (and GC standing)
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Quote of the day
The win is a big one for Bertizzolo, who was a promising young rider but has been chasing an elusive WWT win for some time. The closest she’s gotten is second at Trofeo Alfredo Binda in 2022 behind then-world champion Elisa Balsamo. Not only did Bertizzolo finally get that WorldTour win, she will go into the second stage in yellow, something that means a lot to the young Italian.
It means a lot, it’s always a special color because it reminds of the biggest race in the world, so the very first time for me, it will be emotional.
Bertizzolo said at the finish
Up next: Stage 2 from Romont to Torgon
The first 60 km of stage 2 is relatively flat, but after the stage crosses into the second half it’s an uphill fight to the line. First, the peloton will race up a 13.4 km ascent of the Les Mosses climb before descending to another 10.4 km climb to finish the stage at Torgon.
The first climb maxes out at 11% while the second gets a little steeper in places. Neither is crazy long but, coming back to back, they will decide the overall race at the end of the day on Saturday. The obvious pick? Nobody but Demi Vollering of course, but keep an eye on defending champion Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, and Kim Cadzow has great form right now as well.
Live coverage on GCN+ starts at 12:35 CEST on Saturday, so get ready for two back-to-back crazy races with a wild La Vuelta a España on tap for the men.
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