Tour de Suisse 2026 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE] (ladies)

June 21, 2026

Tour de Suisse Women 2026 🇨🇭 (2.WWT) WE – Stage 5 – Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon : 100,4 km

Tour de Suisse Women is a UCI 2.WWT classification stage race that traverses the breathtaking and diverse landscapes of Switzerland, offering a mix of high-altitude climbs, technical descents, and fast, rolling terrain that tests every facet of a rider’s ability. The route unfolds across a series of stages that range from long, sustained mountain ascents to punchy, short climbs, with gradients frequently reaching 8–12% on narrow, winding roads that cut through the Alps and their foothills. The climbs are often irregular, featuring steep ramps, exposed sections, and technical switchbacks, while the descents are fast and demanding, with uneven surfaces and sharp corners that require precision and confidence. The race dynamics are defined by the relentless changes in elevation and the tactical opportunities they present, with attacks launching on the steepest sections or during the high-altitude stages, where the thin air amplifies the effort required. The peloton often fractures early on the toughest climbs, thinning to a select group of climbers who contest the stage victory. The flatter stages are rarely straightforward, with crosswinds and punchy hills disrupting the rhythm, while the sprint finishes reward explosiveness and perfect positioning. The final kilometers of each stage frequently feature a decisive climb, a technical descent, or a fast run-in through a picturesque Swiss town, where the outcome hinges on timing, endurance, and tactical intelligence. The Tour de Suisse Women embodies the challenge and beauty of racing in the Swiss Alps, demanding resilience, climbing prowess, and adaptability across its demanding parcours.

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) won the Tour de Suisse Women, taking her second consecutive overall victory and the third of her career by soloing to victory on stage 5.

A day after her ITT victory, Reusser also won the brutal mountain around Villars-sur-Ollon, dropping Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) in the final kilometre to win alone.

Seven seconds behind, Kerbaol outsprinted Niewiadoma-Phinney for second place on the stage, and they also finish on the GC podium in that order.

Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney had been part of a front group of five that formed halfway through the stage when Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacked and was followed by Megan Arens (Picnic PostNL) and the two GC contenders. Kerbaol bridged to them after a brief chase, and Arens was left behind on the descent from the Col de la Croix.

On the finishing climb, Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked with 8.8km to go, and only Reusser could stay on her wheel. Kerbaol was over 30 seconds behind at one point but fought her way back, coming back on the final kilometre and immediately attacking for the stage victory. When Niewiadoma-Phinney closed the gap, Reusser attacked from behind and went clear to win the stage.

“I’m super happy with how everything went. It’s not that I came into this race with the biggest confidence, so I’m super happy that it worked out,” Reusser said at the finish.

“Today, I really could profit from the situation we had in the GC. I could look at the others. Kasia did a lot of work on this [finishing] climb, and that helped me a lot. So, thank you, Kasia.”

How it unfolded
The 101.1km stage consisted of two laps around Villars-sur-Ollon, a resort town halfway up the mountain between the Rhône valley and the Col de la Croix. This made for three ascents on the stage: the initial 7.9km climb to the Col de la Croix was classified as a second-category climb, the 19.7km climb from the valley floor to the top was hors catégorie, and finally there was the unclassified 11km climb to the finish.

Megan Arens (Picnic PostNL) went clear to win the first mountain sprint but was caught again on the descent where a strong front group of eleven riders including all the GC contenders got away.

Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) went solo from that group and built an advantage of up to three minutes on the peloton, with a chase group consisting of Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health), Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime), Jasmin Liechti (Switzerland), Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly), Léa Curinier (FDJ United-Suez), and Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) in between.

Beginning the monster climb from the valley floor to the Col de la Croix, Koch was 1:24 minutes ahead of the six chasers, with the peloton following at 2:34 minutes.

The chase group fell apart on the first part of the climb, and the peloton was quickly reduced in size as the Movistar duo of Sara Martín and Liane Lippert set a hard pace. Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) then took over from them, working in support of her leader Elisa Longo Borghini and reeling what remained of the chase group with 52km to go.

There were only 14 riders left in the group of favourites now, some of which had been part of the earlier chase group, and Koch was less than a minute ahead. Longo Borghini, hoping to overcome her ten-second deficit in GC and win the race overall, took over from Squiban, reducing the group further as only Niewiadoma-Phinney, Reusser, De Vries, Arens, Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime), Kerbaol, Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), Liechti, Buijsman, and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) could follow the pace.

Another acceleration by the Italian champion reduced the group even further to Longo Borghini, Reusser, Arens, De Vries, Kerbaol, and Häberlin, and when they could see Koch up ahead, De Vries launched her attack.

Arens, Niewiadoma-Phinney, and Reusser followed the move, and Reusser took charge, setting the pace and quickly passing Koch while Kerbaol went on a solo chase from behind. With one lap to go, the front group of four was four seconds ahead of Kerbaol while a group of Longo Borghini, Häberlin, Berthet, Buijsman, and Le Court-Pienaar was 14 seconds behind.

Kerbaol soon made it to the front. On the last 3km of the climb, De Vries’ attack briefly saw Kerbaol and Arens dropped, but they made their way back again. Arens then attacked herself in a bid for the mountain jersey but was caught again before the top and dropped on the last bit of the climb. Although Reusser beat her to first place at the mountain sprint, De Vries had collected enough points throughout the race to win the green mountain jersey.

The group with Longo Borghini was 1:28 minutes behind at the QOM, making Reusser’s GC victory all but certain. Arens never made it back and was instead picked up by the chasers, leaving four riders at the front of the race who started the 11km finishing climb 1:15 minutes ahead of Berthet, Longo Borghini, Le Court-Pienaar, Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike), Liechti, Häberlin, and Buijsman.

Le Court-Pienaar soon attacked from this chase group, with only Häberlin chasing after her. Longo Borghini dropped back through the group, having to let gaps open in front of her, and eventually imploded completely, losing more than nine minutes to Le Court-Pienaar.

Up ahead, Niewiadoma-Phinney’s attack split the front group, and the Polish champion did most of the work on the way to the finish, trying to both leapfrog Kerbaol in GC and keep Le Court-Pienaar from reaching the group from behind and contest the stage in a sprint.

Le Court-Pienaar never did make it to the front, but Kerbaol came back on the final kilometre where Reusser then left the two others behind to win the stage.

In addition to the yellow jersey, her two stage victories also won Reusser the blue points jersey while GC runner-up Kerbaol won the white U25 jersey. AG Insurance-Soudal won the team classification.

Results :

Final General Classification :