Soraya Paladin sprinted to fourth place today on the opening stage of the Tour de Romandie Féminin in Lausanne, Switzerland. Soraya was in a late breakaway attempt, but when it was caught with less than 2km remaining, the Italian switched her focus to the final sprint. The first stage was won by Arlenis Sierra (MOV), who now takes the first-ever Tour de Romandie Féminin leader’s jersey.

Soraya said: “The race was quite easy in the beginning. Ella and Alice were covering the dangerous breakaways, and they were keeping us safe at the front. The race exploded in the last hour with a fast pace and many attacks. I was in the front with Elise, so we shared the work.”

“In the sprint, I should have stayed on Arlenis’ wheel. I started my sprint early to anticipate her, but in the end, it didn’t work out.”

“Being put as a reserve at the world championships in Australia last month gave me more motivation to finish the season well. Fourth is good, but as a team, we want more. I like the atmosphere here, and I hope we can have better results in the next two stages.”

Teammate Elise Chabbey sprinted to sixth place and won the Best Swiss rider award for the stage. Afterwards, Elise said:

“It was nice to have all my family and friends out on the course. Few riders can say they have a World Tour race at home, so I try to enjoy it as much as possible! Soraya was just off the podium today, so we hope tomorrow or Sunday we are on top of the podium.”

Soraya is fourth in the general classification at +10 seconds, with Elise sixth also at +10 seconds.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The tour can be followed on Twitter with #TDRF and is broadcast on RTS, GCN, and Eurosport at the following times:

Stage 2 | 104.5km | Sion – Thyon 2000 | Stage start 10:35CEST | Broadcast 13:00CEST.

Stage 3 | 147.6km | Fribourg – Genéve | Stage start 11:35CEST | Broadcast 14:30CEST.

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