Marlen Reusser won stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse Women in Aarburg, delivering the expected time-trial performance to take both the stage victory and the yellow jersey before the final day. The Movistar rider completed the 23.7-kilometre course in 29:36, beating Zoe Bäckstedt by 11 seconds and putting more than a minute into overnight leader Elisa Longo Borghini.
Bäckstedt finished second for Canyon SRAM, backing up her stage 3 sprint victory with a superb ride against the clock, while Loes Adegeest took third for Lidl-Trek at 54 seconds. Franziska Koch was fourth for FDJ United-SUEZ, ahead of Longo Borghini, Brodie Chapman, Maeva Squiban, Femke de Vries, Lauretta Hanson and Cédrine Kerbaol.
The bigger change came in the general classification. Reusser moved into yellow with one stage remaining, 10 seconds ahead of Longo Borghini. Kerbaol climbed to third at 1:20, while Sarah Van Dam sits fourth at 1:35 and De Vries fifth at 1:43. After three road stages shaped by attacks, crashes and reduced sprints, the time-trial finally imposed a clear order on the race.
A hot day in Aarburg
Stage 4 was always expected to be one of the decisive days of the Tour de Suisse Women. The 23.7-kilometre individual time-trial around Aarburg was not simply a test of pure power. It came on a hot day, with temperatures in the high twenties and little wind on the course, making heat management and repeated accelerations through the corners just as important as sustained speed.
Reusser began the day as the obvious favourite. The Swiss rider is one of the strongest time-triallists in the sport, and the course offered her a direct route back into the overall fight after losing time earlier in the race. She started the stage 55 seconds behind Longo Borghini on GC, which meant she needed a near-perfect ride to take yellow.
Longo Borghini had started the day in the race lead after winning stage 2 in Locarno and safely navigating stage 3 in Bad Ragaz. She had a useful margin, but not one large enough to feel secure against Reusser on a course of this length.
Lauren Dickson, who had been second overall after stage 3, did not start after breaking her collarbone in her crash during the previous day’s finale. That changed the GC picture before the first serious time checks had even arrived.
Chapman sets the early target
The first notable benchmark came from Brodie Chapman. The Australian time-trial champion started strongly for UAE Team ADQ and set the fastest intermediate split at 14:26.80, ahead of Lauretta Hanson.
Chapman then reached the finish in 30:45, setting a time that looked strong enough to stand for a while. It was a useful ride for UAE Team ADQ, who had several riders capable of placing high on the day, but the later starters quickly showed that the stage-winning standard would need to be much faster.
Becky Storrie had earlier set a benchmark of 32:51, while Annika Liehner had been fastest through the first checkpoint during the opening wave. Once the bigger names started to arrive, the leaderboard began to shift more sharply.
Maeva Squiban also produced a strong ride for UAE Team ADQ, but her time-trial ended with a late scare. She crashed with around 200 metres to go, managed to get back up, and still finished 59 seconds down. Without that incident, she looked on course for an even stronger result.
Photo Credit: GettyBäckstedt raises the level
Zoe Bäckstedt started after taking victory on stage 3, and immediately lifted the standard of the stage. The Canyon SRAM rider went through the intermediate split in 14:01, 25 seconds faster than Chapman, setting a marker that confirmed she was riding for more than just a respectable result.
At the finish, Bäckstedt stopped the clock at 29:47. It was a major ride from the U23 time-trial world champion, and for a while it looked capable of winning the stage outright. Her performance also showed how well she had recovered from the previous day’s sprint win, where Canyon SRAM had worked hard before delivering her into position in Bad Ragaz.
Bäckstedt later described the effort as brutally difficult in the heat, with the lack of wind making cooling harder and the course forcing repeated accelerations out of corners. That was reflected in the way the stage unfolded. This was not a time-trial where riders could simply settle into one rhythm and hold it. The strongest had to manage surges, recoveries and heat stress across nearly half an hour of racing.
Her time stayed at the top until Reusser reached the course, but even second place represented a strong statement before the final day.
Reusser takes control
Reusser started her ride with the stage and the general classification both clearly in view. At the intermediate split, she was already 5 seconds faster than Bäckstedt, passing through in 13:56. It was not a huge margin, but it showed that the Movistar rider had opened at the right pace and was on track for the win.
Behind her, Longo Borghini began her own time-trial knowing every second mattered. The first checkpoint gave a clear indication of the danger. She was 31 seconds slower than Reusser at the intermediate split, which meant her yellow jersey was already under real pressure.
Reusser continued to build through the second half of the course. She reached the finish in 29:36, setting a new fastest time and beating Bäckstedt by 11 seconds. Given the strength of the field still to finish, it immediately looked like the stage-winning ride.
The final question was whether Longo Borghini could limit the damage enough to hold yellow. She crossed the line in 30:41, 1:04 slower than Reusser. That was enough to keep her close in the overall standings, but not enough to retain the race lead.
Longo Borghini loses yellow but stays close
Longo Borghini’s fifth place on the stage was still a strong performance, but Reusser’s specialist strength changed the race. The Italian finished 1:04 down on the stage winner, which overturned her overnight advantage and left her 10 seconds behind Reusser on GC before the final stage.
That keeps the race finely balanced. Longo Borghini is not out of contention, and the final stage still gives UAE Team ADQ a tactical route back into the yellow jersey. But the time-trial has shifted control to Reusser, who now carries the lead and the confidence of having delivered on the day most suited to her.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney had a more difficult day, finishing 1:46 slower than Reusser. That was a significant blow to her GC position and leaves her with a major task on the final stage if she wants to move back into podium contention.
Kerbaol gained ground in the wider GC battle with a top-10 ride, moving to third overall at 1:20. Van Dam remains fourth at 1:35, while De Vries, the stage 1 winner and former race leader, sits fifth at 1:43 after finishing eighth on the stage.
Reusser leads into the final stage
Reusser now leads the Tour de Suisse Women with a 10-second advantage over Longo Borghini. Kerbaol sits third at 1:20, followed by Van Dam at 1:35, De Vries at 1:43, Niewiadoma-Phinney at 1:49, Le Court at 2:01, Steffi Häberlin at 2:26, Yara Kastelijn at 3:19 and Thalita de Jong at 3:57.
The top of the standings now has a clear shape. Reusser and Longo Borghini are separated by only 10 seconds, but the gap back to Kerbaol gives the final stage two different battles. The yellow jersey fight is still close enough for attacks, bonus seconds and team tactics to matter, while the podium remains open behind them.
For Movistar, the time-trial was the day they needed. Reusser did not simply win the stage, she moved into the race lead and gave herself the strongest possible platform before the final mountain test. For UAE Team ADQ, Longo Borghini remains close, while Chapman and Squiban showed strength on the day, even if the latter’s late crash cost her a possible higher placing.
Bäckstedt’s second place continued an excellent sequence after her stage 3 victory, while Adegeest’s third gave Lidl-Trek a strong result on a day when several GC riders were forced into damage limitation.
Time-trial reshapes the race
The Tour de Suisse Women had already produced three very different road stages before the race reached Aarburg. De Vries won from a late move on stage 1, Longo Borghini attacked into yellow on stage 2, and Bäckstedt took the sprint on stage 3. Stage 4 was different. It removed the tactics, the crashes and the uncertainty of the bunch, leaving each rider alone against the course.
Reusser was the strongest in that setting. She used the full length of the time-trial, started quickly, built through the second half and gave Movistar the result they had been waiting for. On a hot day, over a course that demanded repeated accelerations as much as steady power, she delivered a ride that won the stage and transformed the race.
The final stage now begins with Reusser in yellow, Longo Borghini close enough to attack, and a podium battle still alive behind them. The time-trial answered one question clearly: Reusser remains the rider to beat against the clock. The final stage will decide whether she can defend the jersey when the race returns to open-road tactics.
Tour de Suisse Women 2026 stage 4 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
