La Vuelta Femenina, Tour de Romandie

 

“It was a tough day, Bahrain came to help us, they wanted to go for the stage as well, and fight for the GC. It was good for us, a hard pace all day and then on the climb, Florian attacked first and he did a really good job, but luckily I could survive on his wheel and he launched really early, and then it was a fight to finish line. 

I knew I needed to go all out to the finish line, but actually, when I attacked and then Florian counter-attacked, it was really impressive. It was a pain in the legs, I must admit. Then we worked a little bit together, I didn’t want to work too much in the final because I knew I needed to have a good kick in the end. Florian started his sprint; it felt like 600m to the finish line, and I just committed and passed. I had to commit to the finish line, but it was really long. 

-Tadej Pogacar

Noemi Ruegg (EF Education Oatly) pulled on the iconic Vuelta’s famous red jersey after she won the opening stage. On a day of rain, slick descents, and a late crash that split the bunch, Ruegg launched with 175 meters to go for the win. Six stages to go!

“I knew this finish was perfect for me. If I was to draw my dream stage, it would end exactly like this, so I knew I could trust on a long sprint. I knew from the last corner I wanted to go full gas and all in, and the team put me in a great position, and then I just went all out from the last corner. I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I had a gap pretty immediately. I just kept going, and I looked back and saw I could make it to the finish. It was a dream.”

-Noemi Ruegg