Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) lost any slim chance they had at chasing down solo stage-winner Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ) on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse Women by missing a turn and riding the wrong way in the final 4km.
"You go full gas, so it's not like you have time to be like 'Oh what's happening now?', it's just like you go full," said Niewiadoma-Phinney, explaining the incident to CyclingProNet at the finish.
"Then, Marlen was saying we're the wrong way, so I was like 'Oh damn', and there's not much you can do, just turn around and try to minimise the gap."
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As the GC favourites came to the fore after a tough day of climbing, Longo Borghini attacked away from everyone with 9.1km to ride. But the race wasn't over, with the engine of Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney working well to limit their losses in a group with Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Van Dam, a teammate of Femke de Vries, who started the day as race leader and was dropped, was not contributing in the effort, as Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney gave everything to try and bring back a 20-second deficit.
Despite the presence of two marshals on the road, they missed the left-hand turn and went straight on, being forced to turn around and lose valuable time as a result. Longo Borghini won the stage and took the yellow jersey, with the pair crossing the line 47 seconds later in a group alongside Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime).
Van Dam spotted the marshals in time and took the turning, allowing her to finish second on the day solo, 30 seconds down, moving her up to third overall.
"When I saw Marlen and Kasia going straight, and I saw on the map really last minute, I grabbed my brakes, took left, and just went as hard as I possibly could to the finish line," said the Canadian.
"I have my map on my Garmin, I was looking at it; I knew the final had a few twists and turns, and I looked at it last minute and thankfully saw, but I'm a bit sorry for them."
After their mistake on Thursday's finale, Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney will have three stages to try and make up the 57-second deficit they now have to Longo Borghini.
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