Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) took her first WorldTour victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie Féminin, unleashing a burst of speed in the final hundred metres of the summit finish to La Tzoumaz to beat Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal), who moved into the overall lead of the race.
The pair were locked together for the entirety of the 12km ascent, with Chabbey only able to break the deadlock in the two-up sprint to win by three seconds. Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) fought bravely to cross the line three further seconds behind Žigart in third.
Overnight race leader Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) and race favourite Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) were distanced early on under the pressure of the tempo set by AG Insurance-Soudal on a tough day in the Swiss Alps.
Žigart now holds an eight-second lead over Chabbey heading into the final stage, with Kastelijn 13 seconds back in third.
Chabbey grew up in Geneva, a short distance away from the ski resort of La Tzoumaz. She was understandably delighted to pick up the biggest win of her career close to home despite some sickness after claiming the Queen of the Mountains jersey at the Tour de France Femmes.
"It’s the most beautiful victory of my career," said Chabbey after the finish. "With my family here, my sisters and brothers. The team was behind me. I can’t believe it.
"I was sick after the Tour de France. I didn’t recover well. I came because it’s a home race."
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Chabbey also commented on the situation before the opening stage, when five teams were disqualified for refusing to comply with a UCI GPS safety tracking test.
"It’s sad for the organisation, what happened yesterday. The organisation don’t have a lot of money."
With an easier day on the cards on the final stage, Chabbey recognised that overhauling Žigart for the yellow jersey would be difficult, but she will try to attack the Slovenian on the stage starting and finishing in Aigle, home to the UCI.
Žigart took over as the race leader after stage 2 (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
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.
Chabbey celebrates across the line with Žigart not too far behind in second (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dan is a freelance cycling journalist who has written for Cyclingnews since 2023 alongside other work with Cycling Weekly, Rouleur and Escape Collective. Dan focuses much of his work on professional cycling beyond its traditional European heartlands and writes a regular Substack called Global Peloton.
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