Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) claimed the overall victory at the Tour de Romandie Féminin in a nail-biting finish as Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) won the final undulating stage in Aigle in a three-up sprint.
Chabbey finished third on the stage behind Vas and stage one winner Paula Blasi (UAE ADQ) to claim the first stage race victory of her career.
Overnight leader Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) was distanced on the final climb of the day, but chased valiantly in the final 10km to almost close the gap to the front three.
At the climax of a hilly stage that started and finished near the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Chabbey unleashed a rapid burst of speed on the Antagnes climb 12 kilometres from the line, taking only Blasi with her as Žigart and Kastelijn struggled on the steepest pitches.
Žigart may have made it back on, but for a mistake on the descent of Antagnes, giving the AG Insurance-Soudal rider too much to do in the closing stages.
It was Chabbey, though, who had the widest smile of all as she claimed the biggest victory of her career just a stone’s throw from her childhood home in Geneva.
“After yesterday, I was very happy,” Chabbey said after the stage, having won stage 2 on Saturday.
“This morning, we said we have nothing to lose. We had a plan and we executed it well.
“We wanted it to be hard on the climbs and for Juliette [Labous] to follow the attacks, and I could attack on the last climb. I wasn’t feeling that great, but then the team really pushed me. It’s a team win. It’s unbelievable.”
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…