CANYON//SRAM Racing finished Tour de Suisse, taking home second, fourth, and sixth in the general classification, and won three classifications: Best Young Rider, Mountain and Team. Neve Bradbury and Kasia Niewiadoma finished third and fourth on the final stage, with Bradbury securing second overall and the white jersey for Best Young Rider. With the final stage performance, teammates Kasia and Antonia Niedermaier moved into fourth and sixth overall, and Antonia finished second in the Best Young Rider classification. After wearing it from stage one, Elise Chabbey secured the Queen of the Mountains jersey.

Antonia was key to CANYON//SRAM Racing’s final stage, giving the team a strong advantage by being one of the best GC riders in the early breakaway that lasted until the final 12km. A thrilling battle for the stage victory and the final order of the GC podium ensued where Kasia and Neve threw everything at the closing kilometres with attack after attack. In the four-rider sprint finish Demi Vollering (SDW) took the stage and GC win, with Neve sprinting to third place. Neve, the 2020 Zwift Academy winner, equalled her career-best GC result at a Women’s World Tour stage race after replicating her Best Young Rider win and second overall from the UAE Tour in February.

RIDER REACTIONS

Neve Bradbury: “Today’s final was brutal. Our best chance at winning the stage and securing second on GC was to tire Longo Borghini, so we went full gas, attacking one after another until we had nothing left. We had a strong team with many riders high in GC, like Elise after the first stage and then Antonia and Kasia were up there. That meant we could play many cards and make other teams suffer in various race situations.

The team’s results reflect how well we’ve been racing together. We’ve been right up there the whole year, and now it’s finally paying off. We raced incredibly well, always in every move and backing each other up 110% with no regrets.

Everyone, including staff, had a huge part to play in this result. We can walk away from this tour confident going into the next races.”

Kasia Niewiadoma: “It was such a crazy final with plenty of attacks and attempts to get away solo! We knew Neve had secured the GC podium in that group thanks to the bonus seconds at the finish line, so we wanted to focus on stage victory.

We did our best and suffered a million deaths, but Longo Borghini and Vollering fought hard. It was a fun final, and it was nice to be present with two riders so we could play our game. Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck or a moment of hesitation from the others to arrive at the fishing line solo. But that also shows that they were taking us seriously.

Neve is a spectacular rider! She has a great sense of racing and knows where she has to be, how to be safe, and how to ride smart. She is strong and capable. Seeing her developing into the hard-core rider she is now is exciting.”

Elise Chabbey: “Overall, we’re happy with this tour. We did a super race with the team at every stage. After the stage yesterday, Kasia and Neve showed how strong they are, and the results are well deserved for the whole team. I’m in a preparation block now, and after going so deep in the first stage, I felt it in the next stages. But I’m happy to leave my home tour with the mountain jersey.”

Antonia Niedermaier: “This last stage was hard. I tried to get in a breakaway with a nice group, and we especially wanted to keep the second place in GC with Neve. We knew that we had to go all in to defend this. I attacked and ended up in the breakaway. We worked quite well together, but I also knew that I had to eliminate some GC riders around me in the breakaway. That’s why I tried to keep on attacking. Ultimately, it didn’t work out, but I tried my best. Kasia and Neve managed to go over my attack after the breakaway was caught, and they went away in a group of four, which meant Neve could keep her GC podium.

I’m proud of the whole team. We had quite a hard start, but we were doing our best every day, and most importantly, we never gave up. It was an incredible team effort. I’m going into national championships with a good feeling. I know my shape now and know what my strengths are.”

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