On the second stage with the finish in Villars-sur-Ollon, there was once again no beating overall leader Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx – Protime). Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM Racing) lost ground after her strong ride yesterday.
The situation before today’s mountain Time Trial was clear: Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx – Protime), the overall leader, was also firm favourite today on the 15.7 kilometre course from Aigle up to Villars-sur-Ollon. But up until the last intermediate time check it seemed that the Dutchwoman could actually be dethroned. Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) had good legs and set a strong best time at the finish. Ultimately however it was not enough for the win.
At the 12.5 kilometre mark Vollering was almost 24 seconds behind Longo Borghini. In the final kilometres however, the leader showed once again why she is the big favourite in this Tour. In the final sprint, the Dutchwoman not only closed the gap, but also distanced the entire competition by almost 18 seconds. She therefore also won the second stage and extended her GC lead over the two Lidl Trek riders of Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini to 1:26 and 1:28 minutes respectively.
Swiss riders not with amongst the best
After the long breakaway ride yesterday, Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM Racing) no longer had the energy to match the top riders today. In the end, the Geneva-based rider finished in 17th place, slipping back to 10th place in GC at 4:13 minutes behind the leader.
Tomorrow’s third stage covers 125.6 kilometres from Vevey to Champagne. The total of 1,887 metres of climbing is divided into four KOMs. This gives Elise Chabbey the chance to extend her lead in the mountain classification.