Stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie Féminin was always likely to decide the overall, with five categorised climbs packed into 122km around Aigle and just 13 seconds separating the top three riders on GC. Elise Chabbey began the day eight seconds behind Urška Žigart, while Yara Kastelijn was 13 seconds back, and both knew they had to force the issue if they wanted to take yellow.
The early part of the stage was relatively calm across flat terrain, before the first of two ascents of Le Châtel brought the race alive. A large breakaway of 13 riders clipped away, including the likes of Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Claire Steels, and Laura Stigger, who was the best placed overall at over three minutes down. The group worked well together and quickly built a lead of just over two minutes. Steels, in particular, was animated, taking maximum points over the climbs and through the intermediate sprints, a move that would ultimately secure her both the mountains and points jerseys. Morgane Coston also featured strongly, crossing Le Châtel first to boost her QOM tally.
Photo Credit: GettyBehind, the peloton was never far from control. FDJ-Suez and Fenix-Deceuninck shouldered much of the responsibility, knowing that Chabbey and Kastelijn still had a shot at overturning Žigart’s advantage. The pace on the second ascent of Le Châtel began to tell, with the break’s gap tumbling under a minute as the bunch split under pressure. By the time the riders reached La Rasse for its second ascent with 20km left, the race was back together.
The peloton now numbered only 20 or so riders, and the decisive moves soon followed. On the Antagnes climb, a brutal 1.2km ramp averaging 9%, Chabbey made her play. The Swiss rider accelerated hard, and only Paula Blasi could follow, the stage one winner keen to defend her own place high on GC. Kastelijn and Žigart, despite fighting, could not match the injection of pace and were left dangling 15 seconds back over the top, with Erica Magnaldi among those in the chase.
The descent into Aigle proved crucial. Chabbey and Blasi worked smoothly together, but Blanka Vas produced a fearless ride downhill, bridging across to the leaders with 4km remaining. Žigart’s bid unravelled here: she overcooked a corner, lost contact with her chase group, and though she clawed back on with help from teammate Mireia Benito, the damage was done. The yellow jersey was still visible up the road but would never quite be caught.
Into the final kilometre, Chabbey drove the pace, desperate to cement her GC bid, while Blasi and Vas offered little assistance. The Hungarian champion timed her sprint to perfection, kicking hard inside the final 200 metres to take the stage ahead of Blasi, with Chabbey in third. Behind, Žigart crossed the line 11 seconds down, enough to lose her slender lead.
The day ended with Vas celebrating the stage victory, but it was Chabbey who stole the headlines, taking her first-ever WorldTour stage race overall on home soil. What began as a finely balanced three-way contest turned into a dramatic swing of momentum, with one decisive attack on Antagnes and a daring descent rewriting the GC.
Photo Credit: Getty2025 Tour de Romandie Féminin Stage 3 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
