Demi Vollering is the top favorite for overall victory in the third Tour de Romandie for women. Around 100 riders have registered for the tour, including ten Swiss riders.
The 2nd stage on Saturday in Valais is crucial in the battle for overall victory. The stage leads over 101.9 km from Chippis to Vercorin. The final climb up to the Valais vacation resort is almost 10 km long and has an average gradient of 8.2 percent.
The route is also hilly on the other days. On the final day, Morges is the start and finish town, with 144 hilly kilometers in between, on which the riders have to conquer more than 2000 meters of altitude. In total, the third Tour de Romandie for women will cover 380 km.
Tour de France winner cancels at short notice
17 teams, each with a maximum of six riders, are registered for the Tour of Western Switzerland. After the cancellation of the Polish Tour de France winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma on Tuesday, the triumph is mainly down to Demi Vollering.
The 27-year-old Dutchwoman, who has lived in Switzerland for some time, has won four tours this year, including the four-day Tour de Suisse in June. However, Vollering was recently disappointed at the Olympic Games in Paris, where she failed to win a medal in both the time trial (5th place) and the road race (34th), and at the Tour de France (second, four seconds behind Niewiadoma).
In addition to Vollering, the other top five riders from the Tour of France will be at the start in Gorgier on Lake Neuchâtel: Pauliena Rooijakkers from the Netherlands, Evita Muzic from France and Gaia Realini from Italy. World champion Lotte Kopecky is also a contender for overall victory. The Belgian, Vollering's teammate at SD Worx, finished the Giro d'Italia in 2nd place.
With Chabbey, without Reusser
It remains to be seen what accents Elise Chabbey can set in the home race. The 31-year-old from Geneva has been plagued by bad luck recently and had to abandon the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. In Paris, Chabbey fell out of the decision in the road race due to a crash and had to settle for 18th place. Like Chabbey, Olympic seventh-placed Noemi Rüegg will also try to get closer to the stage win in western Switzerland via a breakaway group.
In addition to Niewiadoma, Marlen Reusser is also among the absentees in western Switzerland. The Bernese rider, who is in poor health, took part in her last race in May and announced in mid-August that she would be withdrawing from the World Championships in Zurich, which begin in just over two weeks' time.
SDA
