Tour de Romandie Féminin: Elise Chabbey climbs to stage 2 victory as Urška Žigart moves into race lead

Young Paula Blasi held a surprise 17-second overnight lead in the overall classification heading into the toughest stage of the 2025 Tour de Romandie Féminin after her prologue victory on the opening day. Her win in Villars-sur-Ollon was impressive, but with a 12.8km finishing climb to La Tzoumaz, the second stage was a different proposition altogether.

The stage was mostly flat, apart from the double ascent of the third category Chamoson climb, breaking up the mid-part of the day. The riders knew the stage, and probably the entire race, was all about the final climb.

As a result, there was little in the way of breakaway action early on. The first movement of the stage was the first of four intermediate sprints at Leytron after 34km – which didn’t carry bonus seconds. Margot Vanpachtenbeke (VolkerWessels) won the opening dash, which bounced straight into the first ascent of Chamoson. Kastelijn, fourth in the prologue, sprang out of the pack to take maximum points, showing ambition for the climber’s jersey.

Then came the first real attempt at a breakaway. It was Claire Steels (Movistar) who attacked the pack solo. She was soon followed by Giorgia Vettorello (Roland Le Dévoluy), but the Italian was stuck in no-man’s-land between the lead and the bunch. Steel and Vettorello would go on to take the first two places at the repeated intermediate sprint and Queen of the Mountains point. With 10km left before the bottom of La Tzoumaz, Steels had a lead of more than two minutes over the bunch, while Vettorello was dangling ahead of the peloton heading through the penultimate sprint in Aproz.

Steels in the stage 2 breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)

As Steels continued through the final sprint in Riddes and onto La Tzoumaz, she held a lead of 90 seconds. Steels, an accomplished climber, got quickly into her rhythm on the steady 8% gradients. Behind, UAE Team ADQ took up the pace-making in support of race leader Blasi as the weaker climbers were shelled out the back. The group soon reduced to around 20 riders.

Steels’ lead melted away, and she was quickly swept up as Liv-AlUla Jayco lifted the pace through Caroline Andersson, looking to set up Mavi García. With 10km left, Andersson stopped her work, and responsibility went back into the hands of UAE Team-ADQ, who were in a strong position with five riders in the top-20 overall. AG Insurance-Soudal also contributed in support of Žigart as the race was being decided by riders going off the back. African champion Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), the winner of the first edition of this race, was dropped with 9km left alongside 8th-placed Alena Ivanchenko (UAE Team ADQ).

Under the pressure of AG Insurance-Soudal’s Mireia Benito, race favourite Juliette Labous was distanced with 8km left. The FDJ-SUEZ rider was in a group alongside García, but was attempting to fight back to the leading group.

Mireia Benito set up Žigart in the finale of stage 2 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Leader Blasi was the next to go a kilometre later, as the advantage swung heavily in favour of AG Insurance-Soudal and Žigart, with Benito putting in a monster turn on the front. Just five riders remained in the leading group, with Kastelijn, Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-ProTime) and Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ) alongside Benito and Žigart. With 6km left, Labous was well distanced, and Blasi was fading fast. The win would be fought out between this quintet, all five of whom were separated by 25 seconds in the overall standings heading into the stage.

Žigart looked strong and attacked with 5.5km to go, immediately dropping Swiss champion Häberlin and team-mate Benito, whose mammoth job for the day was complete. Kastelijn and Chabbey were able to follow the first acceleration, but the Dutchwoman was soon swinging off the back under the pressure of Žigart. She was dropped and dangled around 50 metres behind, but Žigart had more trouble with distancing Chabbey.

The Slovenian continued to apply the tempo, with Chabbey lurking behind. The Swiss was sitting 15 seconds behind her companion heading into the stage, so she needed to attack if she wanted to take the yellow jersey. With 2km left, Žigart lifted her foot off the gas for the first time, forcing Chabbey through as Kastelijn tried to close the gap. Žigart came back to the front as they entered the final two kilometres, parts of which pitched above 9%.

The pair were locked together moving into the final kilometre, with the gradient easing in the final few hundred metres. Chabbey kicked with 150 metres to go and immediately opened a gap on a tired-looking Žigart, with Kastelijn closing in behind.

The local rider punched the air as she recorded her biggest ever victory on home roads. Žigart moves into a slim lead, with a punchy day starting and finishing in Aigle to conclude the race on stage 3.