Most of the time, when a rider takes the QOM jersey at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, that prize is the result of a very specific plan and a concerted effort. Other times, though, the polka-dot jersey just sort of happens, because you’re in a spot where you can take it, and in that case, why not?
That’s how it’s gone for Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) on the first two days of this year’s Tour. It’s not that the Swiss entertainer is in polka dots by accident, of course; but there was a kind of serendipity to the whole thing.
On stage 1, on the only Cat 3 climb of the day, Chabbey was in a good position on approach to the summit, and was able to take maximum points with only a brief effort. With those points came the first QOM jersey of the race.
Elise Chabbey takes maximum QoM points 👏
The Swiss rider makes it to the line first as the bell rings with one lap to go! 🔔 pic.twitter.com/wyRjMT7tlP
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 26, 2025
“It was not the plan, but yeah, I felt really good and then I saw the line and I was like, ‘I go for it,’ Chabbey said of that stage 1 QOM in conversation with Escape at the start of stage 2. “But I was not sure, because also there were some points [on earlier climbs] before. But at the end of the day, it’s always nice to wear a [classification leader’s] jersey.”
Four hours later, at the end of stage 2 in Quimper, Chabbey hadn’t just held on to the QOM jersey, she’d extended her lead in that classification. And again, that hadn’t really been the plan at the start of the day.
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