Podium clean sweep & GC lead for Faulkner as Team BikeExchange-Jayco Women dominate at Tour de Suisse

Kristen Faulkner took victory in the Individual Time Trial at the Tour de Suisse Women by a margin of 14 seconds, and stepped into the overall lead of the race too, on a remarkable day for Team BikeExchange-Jayco.

Incredible rides from Faulkner, Georgia Williams and Georgia Baker saw the team take a clean sweep of the podium.

Williams, wearing her New Zealand TT champions kit, had taken the hotseat with a blistering time of 32โ€™00 flat, going an incredible 1โ€™14โ€ clear of the next rider in the provisional standings at that point.

Faulkner improved on her team-mateโ€™s time by 14 seconds to slot into top spot, as the pair then waited in anticipation of confirmation of the result, as the remainder of the field completed the course.

To crown the day, Baker recorded the third-fastest time, coming in at just over a minute off Faulkner.

With the final rider of the day crossing the line and unable to dislodge any of the Team BikeExchange-Jayco three, the result was final.

Kristen Faulkner:
โ€œI feel really good. I think it was a really strong performance and for me the most important thing to focus on was pacing at the beginning. 

I knew it would be a big headwind coming back, and also a long TT at over 30 minutes, so I tried to ride at a steady pace in the tailwind and save a bit for the end.

It really helped that I had some really good coaching from the car, with Marco Pinotti, and he was helping me figure out my pacing and also road positioning for the corners and roundabouts.

I think it was a great performance and Iโ€™m really excited to wear the yellow jersey tomorrow.โ€

Alejandro Gonzalez-Tablas (Sport Director):
โ€œIt was an amazing day! I think we worked really hard for this result, and it proves that the form is there for the girls. They are really strong.

I think we made up for the mistakes we made yesterday. Maybe weโ€™d have liked to have a bit more of a gap going into tomorrow and the last day, but I think we can be pretty satisfied with the day!โ€

2022 Tour de Suisse Women Stage 2 (ITT) โ€“ Result:
1. Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 31:46
2. Georgia Williams (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) +0:14
3. Georgia Baker (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) +1:03

2022 Tour de Suisse Women Stage 2 โ€“ General Classification:
1. Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 1:41:55
2. Lucinda Brand +00:04
3. Georgia Williams (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) +00:14

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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Mathew Mitchell
Mathew Mitchellhttp://procyclinguk.com
My name is Mathew Mitchell, 30-something from Staffordshire, UK. Over the last few years, I've got more and more into cycling, from the first innocent Sportive events to Audaxes, Go-Races, British Cycling racing, Time Trials and now Cyclocross.

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