Stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de Romandie Féminin took the riders on a 101.9km route from Chippis to the summit of Vercorin, featuring a fast, flat start and a decisive final climb. The action began early, with a breakaway of four riders, including Sofia Bertizzolo, managing to escape after 30km. The quartet worked hard to build a gap, but the peloton, led by the favourites’ teams, kept their advantage under control, never letting it stretch beyond a minute. With 30km to go, the breakaway was reeled in, setting up the anticipated battle on the slopes of Vercorin.
As the peloton approached the base of the final climb, South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio launched the first serious attack, attempting to thin out the group. Her move was quickly neutralised by SD Worx-Protime, but it succeeded in splitting the peloton and shedding several riders, including Elisa Balsamo, the previous stage winner. The final climb was a brutal 9.6km at an average gradient of 8%, and only five riders remained at the front after Moolman-Pasio’s acceleration: Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, Niamh Fisher-Black, Gaia Realini, and Moolman-Pasio herself.
With 3km to go, the pace ramped up again. Realini, of Lidl-Trek, made a daring attack in an effort to break the SD Worx-Protime trio. Vollering responded, with Kopecky following close behind, leaving Realini and Fisher-Black to battle for the remaining places. From that point on, it was a two-woman fight between Vollering and Kopecky, echoing their fierce sprint against each other in the 2023 Strade Bianche. Vollering was the first to launch her sprint, holding off a powerful challenge from Kopecky to cross the line in first place by the narrowest of margins.
Though Vollering took the stage, Kopecky’s persistence on the climb allowed her to take over the lead in the general classification, heading into the final stage two seconds ahead of her teammate.
Photo Credit: KeystoneRider reactions
After her stage victory, Vollering spoke about the difficulty of the day, acknowledging Kopecky’s strength on the final climb. “It was hot today. That made the last climb extra tough. Whether I was surprised that Lotte went so far along? A little maybe. On the other hand, this obviously suits her perfectly. The pace kept going up and down, and she is just really good at those tempo changes. In the sprint, I wanted to finish it off. For a moment, I thought I had already dropped her, but just before the line, she appeared next to me. It scared me for a moment, but luckily, I was able to win anyway.”
Reflecting on the general classification battle, Vollering hinted at the complexities within the team, given that she is set to leave SD Worx-Protime at the end of the season. “It’s a strange situation because I’m leaving the team. Hopefully, the team will be neutral tomorrow, but Lotte is ahead of me, so they’ll probably go for her.”
Kopecky, who now leads the race by two seconds, was pleased with her performance on the tough climb. “Climbing is still a voyage of discovery for me. Every long climb I do in a race is a learning experience. Today I felt pretty good. Ten kilometres at eight per cent is not easy, so I’m happy with how I handled it.”
SD Worx-Protime sports manager Danny Stam praised the team’s disciplined ride on a day when radio communication was banned by the UCI. “Our plan was to let the other teams try to drop us, but they couldn’t manage it. In the end, five riders remained, three of them from our team. Niamh Fisher-Black took the first initiative, followed by an attack from Realini. Demi countered that, and Lotte fought her way back into the race. In the end, Demi and Lotte were the only ones left.”
2024 Tour de Romandie Féminin Stage 2 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
