Another big result for Sarah Van Dam as she continues to get soooo close to her first pro win.
The Victoria native opened her Tour de Suisse campaign with a strong fifth-place finish on Wednesday. Her teammate, Femke de Vries, claimed her first professional victory after a brilliant long-range attack.
Tough Stage 1
The opening 108-km stage around Sondrio featured three tough climbs. The leg-breaker of a hill, the Bordighi, was just four km from the finish, and it definitely shattered the field.
The race had already come to life after the first major climb. A select lead group formed, and eventually De Vries, Lauren Dickson and Urška Žigart broke clear on the Triangia climb. De Vries launched another attack to leave Žigart behind, setting up a two-rider move at the front.
Working smoothly together, the duo stretched their advantage beyond a minute while the chasing groups merged behind them. Although the favourites ramped up the pace on the final climb, the escapees had done enough to stay clear. (One favourite, btw who isn’t racing is FDJ United-SUEZ’s Demi Vollering, who opted out of the race just days earlier.)
The final kick by De Vries to seal the win
Dickson launched the sprint in the closing metres, but De Vries came around the FDJ United-SUEZ rider with a final acceleration to seal both the stage win and the first leader’s jersey of the race.
Behind them, Cédrine Kerbaol rode clear to finish third, while the main group of favourites crossed the line 38 seconds after the winner.
Van Dam was among that select group, sprinting home to take fifth place on the stage. It marked an encouraging start for the Canadian, who finished alongside several of the race’s top overall contenders after safely negotiating the demanding opening day.
Next up for the Tour de Suisse Women
Van Dam also sits fifth overall. The other Canuck, Nadia Gontova (Liv AlUla Jayco), finished 37th overall. World champion Magdeleine Vallières-Mill was expected to start but was a last-minute scratch.
Stage 2 of the five-day race is in Locarno. The men are also racing today—they too are doing five stages, and both races are being run concurrently. There is one Canadian in the men’s field, NSN Cycling’s Pier-André Côté.