In the fourth and final stage of the Tour de Suisse, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney capped off an impressive week by outsprinting Vollering (FDJ) for second place behind runaway winner Marlen Reusser (MOV), cementing third in the overall standings. Kasia emptied the tank in the sprint, never giving in until the line, on a day that was anything but straightforward.

She shared her view of the 129 kilometre stage, which began in damp conditions and a cooler 21°c degrees, adding an early layer of apprehension in the peloton before sunshine lit up a fiery finale.

“Today’s stage was actually a little bumpy at first because it was raining and then I punctured. Agnieszka [Skalniak-Sójka] had to give me a bike, and then there were another two bike changes, so we were all over the place and attacks were happening. It was definitely hectic and chaotic. Once I ended up on the right bike of mine, we were all dialed in again. I definitely felt very proud of my girls because all of them were super committed and concentrated on every section and important climb where we had to be in the front. That was really nice. I would give a special shoutout to Rosa [Klöser] – coming from gravel and practically never racing a stage race in her life, yet she did really good job.”

With 85km remaining, Rosa Klöser infiltrated a strong breakaway of 11 riders that included heavy hitters like Vas (SDW), Fisher-Black (LTK), and Faulkner (EFO). The move was brought back after 10km, but Neve Bradbury countered soon after, in what was a relentlessly active day as teams looked to shake up the status quo.

Passing the 500m-to-go mark on the merciless Michaelkreuzstrasse climb (3.8km at 9.1%), with the finish a mere 15km away, Kasia launched an attack that whittled the front selection from 11 to just a handful. On the descent that followed, she, Reusser, and Vollering distanced themselves from Fisher-Black. Kasia briefly held a slender gap on the duo, who were locked in an intense GC battle of their own. Behind, it was cagey, but with sufficient cooperation to control Kasia’s move. Reusser then struck out on a steady rise as the kilometres ticked into single digits, and that, as they say, was all she wrote.

Kasia wasn’t surprised by how things unfolded:

“The outcome of the final stage is something that, in some ways, I expected or anticipated. Of course, I definitely wished for a different scenario. I hoped I could use the fact that Marlen [Reusser] and Demi [Vollering] were so close in the GC, and I had over a minute to them, to not be chased every time I would go. But, it seemed like Demi was really keen on getting me, or maybe just having the sprint happening from the little group of us three.”

When asked if she’d ride the final differently, Kasia isn’t entirely sure yet, but doesn’t dwell on it either:

“To be honest, it’s hard to tell. Maybe when I rewatch the final, I will get a different perspective, but I think we were all quite tapped out after the steep climb. Maybe, I should have waited for the attack on the little kicker rather than going on a downhill. It also wasn’t like a super steep or twisty downhill, so I really had to put a lot of effort in there, but sometimes in the race you just listen to your gut feelings and can see what happens. I saw Demi and Marlen looking at each other, and I thought that it was my chance. I don’t think there’s much to reconsider aside from that.”

It would be amiss not to highlight just how composed and strong Kasia has looked throughout the four days – despite the frustrating third place on stage one, where GC time was regretfully lost. She hit back with an offensive ride on stage two, placing fifth and clawing back 30 seconds. Stage three saw her finish 13th after seflessly leading Polish compatriot Skalniak-Sójka to fourth in an always-chaotic bunch sprint situation.

Ultimately, Kasia finished 1:56 behind Reusser and 1:36 behind Vollering in the general classification, with the trio consistently separating themselves whenever the battle for the overall truly ignited.

After five weeks of altitude training in Colorado, Kasia has clearly stepped up, and is always a joy to watch when in such scintillating form. She readily admits however, that there’s still more to come.

“To be honest, I definitely feel satisfied with the work my coach and I did at altitude. It’s nice to have time to prepare for races and  do things as my coach plans – then I will always feel very prepared and ready to go for the good results. That definitely gives me a boost for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift because we know that there are still things we haven’t done in the preparation because we want to keep them for the Tour. It’s not that I’m in a top shape, but it’s nice to see that, let’s say, 90% is enough to already have a podium and be with the main contenders. So yeah, definitely looking forward to the next couple of weeks with Nationals and then at an altitude camp in preparation for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.”

Thank you Kasia and friends, for transforming the beautiful Suisse countryside into such a thrilling spectacle. Next stop: Polish Road National Championships…