Stage two of Tour de Suisse was ignited into exhilarating and impassioned action thanks to Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who launched a fearless attack 19km from the finish, breaking clear of the general classification favourites on the day’s final climb.

She was joined by García (LIV) and Chabbey (FDJ), and the trio were able to hold off the heavily reduced chasing group. The finish-line fight was for third place on the protracted 162 kilometre stage, with first and second already long gone – taken 2:43 earlier by a member of the day’s original breakaway. Kraak (FDJ) took a stunning solo win, followed at 1:55 by Lach (SDW).

Kasia crossed the line in fifth, but more significantly, her gutsy move netted 30 valuable seconds in the general classification. She cut her deficit to leader Reusser (MOV) from 1:51 to 1:21 – a gap initially created on an uncharacteristically shaky descent in stage one. You could argue today’s fiery move was fuelled by a lingering frustration from that moment. Behind Kasia in third, the GC remains tight: Chabbey trails by 34 secs in fourth, and just another 30 secs separate fifth through to eighth.

After the stage, Kasia spoke about how the race unfolded and what sparked the daring dig on the biggest climb of the day, the Buechenhübeli (5.7km at 6.1%).

“We started with a climb and then a long downhill which saw a lot of attacks from big teams. Eventually the breakaway went away with Agnieszka [Skalniak-Sójka], and that’s when the peloton almost stopped and the race became very passive. No one wanted to take charge or do anything. It was quite a passive start, but then once we hit the last two main climbs, that’s where the pace went up.”

“The late move was something I wanted to do. After not a very successful spring campaign, I felt like mentally I needed to prove something to myself by seizing the opportunity or trying something rather than just following. So, I think that was my little goal for today. It was nice to see the outcome of it, and great of course that it stuck all the until way until the finish line.”

Kasia reflected on both her individual progress and the strength of the collective.

“I’m pretty satisfied, but also satisfied with how we rode as a team and how strong the girls were. We were together for the most part and I was getting a great lead out into the important sections. I can tell that everyone is improving and everyone’s getting better. Personally for me, it’s also a nice sign during the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift build-up that things are going in the right direction and that the work I did with my coach is paying off.”

Two stages down, two to go. Tomorrow’s 123km stage may be touted as a potential option for the fast-finishers. However, with over 1200 metres of elevation, the Unterägeri climb (4.5km at 4.2%) in the final 40km, and a sinuous descent in the last 20, the day still has some bite. Given the aggression on display over the opening stages and the strain endured by the summery heat, a more fractured day than the profile suggests wouldn’t come as a surprise. 

With this confidence-boosting performance behind her and more interesting Suisse battlegrounds ahead, Kasia discusses about how the team plans to approach these next two days.

“I think we just want to keep enjoying the racing in some ways – not waiting for a specific moment or climb, but almost just feeling the race and going with the moves to see how things might end up. It’s actually really nice to have this race which is not super, super stressful and important, but something that allows us to step up shape-wise. I also still believe that the good results are in front of us, so the last remaining two stages will be approached just like the first two. We want to be present, we want to leave a mark and we want to have strong finals – hopefully this will still allow us to cross the finish line first.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

Stage 3 | Saturday, June 14 | Campus Sursse, Oberkrich – Küssnacht | 123.1km | 1268m elevation | Start: 12:50 – Fastest finish: 15:50 CET. LIVE from 13:25.

Stage 4 | Sunday, June 15 | Küssnacht – Küssnacht | 129.4km | 1939m elevation | Start: 9:45 – Fastest finish: 13:01 CET. LIVE from 11:00.

Live coverage available via Eurosport, Discovery Plus, TNT Sports, L’Equipe and local Swiss broadcasters. Stay updated on X with #TDS2025 and #TourdeSuisseWomen, and follow CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto’s social channels for the latest team updates.