The opening stage of the 2025 Tour de Suisse Women saw Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering ride away from the rest with over 55km to go, setting up a sprint-à-deux in Gstaad. It was Reusser who came out on top, outsprinting Vollering in a slow-motion final after a long day off the front together.
The 95km route opened with two major climbs packed into the first 30 kilometres. After a fast start on the Saanenmöser, the real selection came on the Jaunpass, where Femke de Vries launched the first attack. Her move didn’t stick, but it did signal the start of a more aggressive phase. Sarah Gigante took over on the upper slopes, forcing a split that left only six riders in the lead: Gigante, Reusser, Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma, Urška Žigart, and Niamh Fisher-Black.
As they crested the climb, Reusser made her move on the descent. She carved out a gap with her trademark descending style, and Vollering, delayed by taking a bottle, had to chase alone. Once she bridged across, the pair immediately committed to the move, building their advantage to nearly two minutes.
Behind, Gigante faded and dropped into the third group, while Žigart, Fisher-Black and Niewiadoma tried to organise a chase. They briefly brought the gap down but couldn’t maintain momentum. The leading duo’s advantage was back out to two minutes with 10km to go, and the stage was clearly between them.
Reusser tried to shake Vollering with 2km to go, but Vollering held firm and stopped contributing. The pace dropped dramatically as they played games into the final kilometre. After a near standstill, Vollering launched early, but Reusser came around in the final metres to win on home soil and take the yellow jersey.
“I’m super happy to win here,” said Reusser. “We knew the climbs would split things, especially in this heat. If it breaks into small groups, there’s often hesitation behind. That’s what we wanted to exploit. I attacked because I knew once I got a gap, it could be hard to bring back. And it worked.”
Vollering admitted she hadn’t felt her best throughout the day. “I had some stomach problems, and I told Marlen that,” she said after the finish. “She joked, ‘You’re always strong when you have stomach problems’. I didn’t feel great, and when she attacked in the last kilometres, I knew I had to wait for the sprint. But I went too early, and she came past. I think it was really special for her to win in Switzerland.”
Kasia Niewiadoma finished third, winning the sprint from the chasing trio. “I have mixed feelings,” she said. “I got dropped on the descent. It was super fast and I just didn’t have the right gearing. After that, it was 55km of chasing, and I was mostly frustrated. But I really wanted that third place and fought hard for it.”
Sarah Gigante was first over the Jaunpass and will wear the Queen of the Mountains jersey on stage 2. She and Urška Žigart were both part of the early selection, with Žigart finishing fifth after suffering cramps in the final kilometres.
“I felt good climbing and it was fun to be up there with the best,” said Žigart. “In the end, I couldn’t really sprint because of cramps, but I’m still happy with how I rode. It’s always motivating to see progress.”
With big time gaps already on GC and a 160km stage on tap tomorrow, the race is wide open behind Reusser, but the home rider has laid down a strong early marker.
2025 Tour de Suisse Women Stage 1 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
