ZOE BACKS UP WIN WITH 2ND IN TOUR DE SUISSE TIME TRIAL

Less than 24 hours after powering her Canyon Aeroad to an emphatic stage 3 victory at the Tour de Suisse Women, Zoe Bäckstedt switched to her Speedmax and rocketed to second place in the stage 4 time trial.

The 23.7km course started and finished in Aarburg, a historic northern Suisse town dominated by an imposing hillside fortress. On a largely flat loop featuring minimal climbing but several technical sections, Zoe looked to establish a similarly commanding presence against the clock.

Her breakthrough WorldTour road-racing victory yesterday was undoubtedly a special moment, but Zoe’s attention had long been fixed on today’s individual effort. Averaging a lightning-quick 47.7kph and becoming one of only two riders to break the 30-minute barrier, the 21-year-old ultimately finished 11 seconds behind the ever-classy Marlen Reusser (MOV), the current Elite TT World and European champion.

It was a result that left Zoe with mixed emotions.

“I have to say that I’m happy, don’t get me wrong, but I am also a little bit gutted. For sure, if I come for a time trial, then I’m also shooting for the win, but Marlen was super strong today and I think the heat really got to me.”

“It was a brutal day and definitely one of the hardest time trials I’ve ever done. So, it’s taken me a while to come around to the result, but I’m happy with my actual performance. I stuck to the plan and did everything that I could.”

Zoe’s own formidable time-trialling credentials barely need an introduction. The reigning U23 TT World Champion had won each of her previous six races against the clock, a streak that reinforced both her consistency and ambitions for the day. Even so, an impressive palmares did not make the challenge any easier.

“There was not a lot of wind on course, so you couldn’t really cool down. It felt like I was doing corners and accelerations, and going over and under the limit the whole time, so it was a super hard day. Do I dare say that I enjoyed it a little bit? Maybe, maybe not.”

An additional benefit of one of the season’s relatively rare time trials was the opportunity to refine equipment, positioning and race processes ahead of upcoming objectives, including the national championships and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Zoe came away pleased with that side of things:

“I think it went pretty okay – of course there are areas where I can always improve. For sure, I can also push more power in a straight line if I need to, but let’s say that there’s still some fine-tuning to do before the next big goals. I’m really looking forward to doing just that.”

Alongside Zoe, Polish Elite TT Champion Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and German U23 Champion Justyna Czapla also produced strong rides, finishing 13th and 15th respectively, around 90 secs adrift of their teammate.

Attention now turns to the fifth and final stage, a day tailor-made for the climbers. The route heads uphill from the flag drop, with the Col de la Croix featuring three times. Riders will first tackle a truncated 3.9km version (8.8% average), before returning for the full HC ascent (19.1km at 7%). The race then concludes 10.3km into the final climb at an altitude of ~1250m.

With over 3000m of elevation gain compressed into just 100km and barely a flat road in sight, the stage looks primed to shake up the general classification of this year’s Tour de Suisse Women. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney remains the team’s best-placed rider in sixth overall, 1:49 down on race leader Marlen Reusser and just 29 secs from the podium. Meanwhile, Zoe leads the points classification heading into the final day, largely on the back of her two podium finishes.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Stage 5 – Tour de Suisse Women | 2.WWT | Sun, June 21 | Villars-sur-Ollon | 100.2km | 2812m | 9:00 – 11:53 CET | Live 9:50

Watch the final stage live on TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO Max, SRF Zwei and other regional providers. Stay updated on X with #TourdeSuisseWomen, and follow CANYON//SRAM social channels for the latest team updates.