Tour de Romandie Feminin 2024: Markus wins stage 3, Kopecky becomes overall winner

There was a breakaway victory on the final 3rd stage of the Tour de Romandie Feminin with start and finish in Morges. For 80 kilometres, Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx - Protime) rode alone at the front and in the end, they clearly brought their advantage over the field of favourites across the finish line. In the final sprint of the leading duo, Markus pulled away and shook off her rival almost effortlessly. Third place went to Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime), who thus also became the overall winner of the tour. The best German was Liane Lippert (Movistar) - she finished sixth.

Kopecky beats Vollering and snatches overall victory

Just two seconds separated the two team-mates Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering (both Team SD Worx - Protime) in the overall standings before the final 3rd stage. Vollering was endeavouring to go for the overall victory on this stage: She cheated her way into a breakaway group in the first third of the race, but was caught by the peloton shortly afterwards. She continued to be active in the finale of the day and neutralised attacks from her rivals. In the end, however, she was unable to pull away from her strong team-mate Kopecky. In the end, Vollering was even involved in a crash, while Kopecky flexed her muscles and crossed the finish line behind the two breakaway riders as the first rider in the field of favourites.

>> This was the 2nd stage of the Tour de Romandie Feminin

>> Everything you need to know about the Tour de Romandie Feminin

Tour de Romandie Feminin 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 3

1. Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) 3:38:44
2. Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:00
3. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:21
4. Noemi Rüegg (Swiss national team) +0:21
5. Eleonora Camilla Gasoarrini (UAE Team ADQ) +0:21
6. Liane Lippert (Movistar) +0:21
7. Mareille Meijering (Movistar) +0:25
8. Ingvild Gaskjenn (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:31
9. Lore De Schepper (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) +0:34
10. Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:34

The overall standings of the Tour de Romandie Feminin 2024

1. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) 9:58:21
2. Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:06
3. Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) +0:46
4. Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:51
5. Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco) +1:05
6. Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +1:10
7. Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) +1:22
8. Ashleigh Moolman (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) +1:32
9. Lore De Schepper (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) +1:38
10. Cedrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team) +1:43

How the 3rd stage of the Tour de Romandie Feminin 2024 went

In rainy conditions, it took a long time and numerous attacks before a leading group of the day was formed. Hanna Ludwig (Cofidis Women Team), Mireia Benito (AG Insurance - Soudal Team), Mijntje Geurts (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Henrietta Christie (Human Powered Health) broke away after around 20 kilometres. A little later, Demi Vollering (SD Worx - Protime), Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) joined the quartet. However, the riders were not really let go, and 114 kilometres before the finish the leading group was caught by the peloton again.

Balsamo wins points classification

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) won the subsequent sprint classification in Bussy-Chardonney, while Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx - Protime) won the following 3rd category mountain classification. The victory in the points and mountain classification was therefore out of reach for both riders.

Markus and Fisher-Black set themselves apart

Around 80 kilometres before the finish, Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx - Protime) attacked and were able to break away from the peloton. Their lead quickly grew - at one point it was well over three minutes. With this lead, Fisher-Black even took over the overall lead for a while.

Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) launched her attack 40 kilometres before the finish, she broke away from the peloton for a while, but was caught again five kilometres later. At this point, the two breakaway riders were less than two minutes ahead of the peloton.

Peloton thins out

As a result, there were repeated attacks from the peloton, all of which were neutralised. Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) and Liane Lippert (Movistar), among others, were unsuccessful in increasing their pace. As a result, the peloton thinned out more and more. With 20 kilometres to go, there were only around 25 riders left in the group of favourites.

The finale

Shortly afterwards, Nienke Vinke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) attacked, then Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM Racing) also attacked and tore a hole. However, both riders were caught again after a few kilometres. The leading duo around Fisher-Black and Markus still had a lead of around one minute.

The two breakaway riders then brought their lead over the finish line: Markus and Fisher-Black came together on the finishing straight, where the Dutchwoman left the New Zealander behind and took the stage win. 21 seconds later, the first part of the group of favourites crossed the finish line. Overall winner Kopecky snatched third place, Lippert finished sixth.