Zigart narrowly loses leader's jersey to Chabbey in thrilling finale as Vas claims Romandie's final stage

Blanka Vas Claims Victory in Final Stage of Tour de Romandie for Women

Blanka Vas, a Hungarian rider from the SD Worx-Protime team, emerged victorious in the third and final stage of the Tour de Romandie for women. The race featured a hilly route that culminated in a sprint finish among three riders, with Vas securing the win. However, the most significant achievement of the day went to Elise Chabbey, a Swiss cyclist from FDJ-SUEZ. She finished third in the stage, which allowed her to overtake overall leader Urska Zigart (AG Insurance - Soudal) and claim the leader's jersey.

The race faced some challenges on Saturday after the previous day’s incident, where five teams were disqualified for refusing to wear GPS trackers. Despite this setback, the event continued as planned, with the queen stage being won by Elise Chabbey. However, the leader's jersey was initially held by Urska Zigart, who had performed well in the prologue. The gap between them was minimal—only 8 seconds—and Yara Kastelijn was also close behind, setting the stage for an intense competition.

The hilly final stage around Aigle was expected to be a thrilling battle for the overall classification. Before the main showdown could begin, a large breakaway group formed, consisting of riders such as Nina Buijsman (FDJ-SUEZ), Evy Kuipers (Fenix-Deceuninck), Laura Stigger (SD Worx-Protime), and Asleigh Moolman (AG Insurance - Soudal). Claire Steels (Movistar) was tasked with winning mountain points and was now tied with the mountain leader, Urska Zigart.

As the final approached, it seemed the breakaway group would not last much longer. Margot Vanpachtenbeke (VolkerWessels) suffered a clumsy fall but managed to rejoin the peloton. By the time the breakaway riders reached the penultimate climb, their lead had shrunk to just 40 seconds. The gap continued to decrease, reducing the leading group to ten riders. Meanwhile, the peloton remained calm, with Chabbey choosing to wait for the final climb towards Antagnes.

On the flat section leading up to the climb, the breakaway group was nearly caught by the peloton, which was controlled by UAE Team ADQ. During the early slopes of the final climb, the breakaway was eventually caught, leaving the big names to take control of the race.

Pressure on Zigart in the Final Climb

Erica Magnaldi (UAE) created a gap, and Zigart was missing from the second group. However, Chabbey maintained her pace, allowing the leader to return. Magnaldi was also caught, leaving Paula Blasi to take the lead. Although Blasi couldn’t get away, Zigart struggled during the climb. At this point, Chabbey pulled away, with only Blasi able to follow.

At the top of the climb, the gap was small, but Zigart continued to lose ground. She received support from Kastelijn in the chase, while Magnaldi worked hard to keep up. The situation became two against two, until the chasing group grew larger. Things looked promising for Zigart until she took a corner too fast and lost contact. With the help of teammate Mireia Benito, she managed to rejoin the group, but she had to close the gap if she wanted to retain the lead.

Meanwhile, Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) descended the hill like a hawk and joined the two leaders. This disrupted the cooperation somewhat, allowing the pursuers to close in. The gap narrowed rapidly: 15, 10, 7 seconds... In the final meters of the climb, the tension was palpable. They stayed ahead, with Vas ultimately winning the stage, followed by Blasi and Chabbey.

In the end, Chabbey had enough energy left to take the yellow jersey from Zigart, who finished 11 seconds behind. The results of the final stage and the overall classification of the Tour de Romandie 2025 for women have been officially recorded.