Without CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto, Team Visma | Lease a Bike, EF Education-Oatly, Lidl - Trek and Team Picnic PostNL, 30 riders were missing at the start, including favoured women such as Kasia Niewiadoma, Antonia Niedermaier, Ricarda Bauernfeind, Niamh Fisher-Black and Gaia Realini. Of the remaining 63 women, the Spaniard Blasi was the strongest in the mountain time trial to Villars-sur-Ollon.

The 22-year-old needed 11:17 minutes for the 4400 metres with an average gradient of seven per cent - an average of 23.4 km/h. This was 17 seconds faster than Urska Zigart (AG Insurance - Soudal Team). She was 17 seconds faster than Urska Zigart (AG Insurance - Soudal Team), the girlfriend of Tadej Pogacar. Juliette Labous (FDJ - Suez) was third, 18 seconds behind. For Blasi, it was the fourth professional victory of her still young career - all of which have come in the course of this year. She was still part of the UAE ADQ Devo team until mid-May. However, after she had won three races as a guest rider for the professional team within two weeks, she was quickly promoted to the elite team.

Disqualified teams name their problems

However, their success was drowned out by the furore surrounding the disqualification of the five teams. They had already written letters to the UCI at the beginning of the week in which they declared that they did not want to submit to the demands of the world governing body. On the one hand, the teams criticised the fact that only one rider (chosen by the team itself) should be fitted with the device, and on the other hand that they themselves should be responsible for installing the technology - and would therefore have to bear the consequences should one of the devices fall off and cause another rider to crash.

On top of this, it was criticised that the UCI and the Tour were using new technology, whereas other equipment had been used in the previous season (for example at the Tour de Suisse). The majority of the excluded teams themselves were involved in the development of this technology.

UCI reacts with statement: Technology also in use at the World Championships

The UCI, however, countered with a press release stating that the excluded riders were disqualified because they did not adhere to the rules of the race - especially the use of the tracker. These had been communicated by the federation in good time and in detail on 7 August. She also pointed out that the technology will also be used at the World Championships in Rwanda, where it will be mandatory for all riders. The UCI also made it clear that the decision to use the technology was taken by SafeR, the organisation dedicated to safety in road cycling for women and men, which brings together representatives of all stakeholders in road cycling - i.e. riders, organisers and teams.

Tour de Romandie Féminin 2025 - Results of the 1st stage

>> Everything you need to know about the women's Tour de Romandie

How the 1st stage of the Tour de Romandie Féminin 2025 went

The Austrian Laura Stigger (Team SD Worx - Protime) was the first to tackle the mountain. However, her time of 12:14 minutes was quickly topped. Her team-mate Mikayla Harvey and Alena Ivanchenko (UAE Team ADQ) quickly set better times. However, the Russian's 30 seconds slower time held up at first. Only Steffi Häberlin, the next SD-Worx woman, was faster again and pushed the best time to 11:47 minutes.

Two riders later, however, Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) came off the ramp. She improved the Swiss rider's time by almost two seconds. Zigart was the tenth-last rider to start the race. The Slovenian beat Magnaldi's current best time by ten seconds. Only Blasi, who started two four minutes and two riders later, was able to beat that. The last rider on the ramp, Labous, came in third, just behind Zigart.