HOW MANY CLIMBS ON THE SWISS TOUR!

Last week I participated in the Tour of Switzerland: after the first two stages I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea…BUT

Together with the team I decided to participate in this stage race because it was placed at a functional time for my preparation and because, although we were aware that we were taking the start in a very tough race, we had also identified some possibilities for a good result.

The first stage was quite short, with two very challenging initial climbs: the second one was 9km long with an average gradient of 9%, from the top there were still 60km to the finish and I knew I had to give my best in order not to lose too much from the first ones and try to come back so I could play something in the sprint. However, (unfortunately for me) the GC women decided to give themselves a battle and attaked the climb very strongly fragmenting the group, I and the other girls who were behind tried to chase but there was no chance to get back on the leaders. The second day was tough with many climbs, I supported my climbers teammates as long as I could and then found a “gruppetto” to go all the way to the end and finish the stage. It was two days of suffering, but I knew that the third stage would be the one best suited to my characteristics: so, in the pre-race meeting, we decided that we would control the race to not allow any breakaway to take off and then play it all out in the sprint and try to bring home a win. My Lidl-Trek teammates were fantastic, and I couldn’t have repaid them in a better way than with a win: I had to launch the sprint very early and managed to cross the finish line a few centimeters ahead of my opponent, but the satisfaction was great!

The team’s goal was to come home with a stage win and a top 5 in the general classification, so on the last day, we all put ourselves at Niamh’s (Fisher-Black) disposal by having her take the last climb (with very challenging gradients) in the very top positions, and she did well to finish in fourth overall.

Back home it took me a few days to recover from the fatigue accumulated in four very demanding stages, but I am sure that the work done will come out in the coming weeks and that my physical condition is on the rise. On Saturday I will take the start in the Copenhagen Sprint: a nervous race where a sprint finish is expected!

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