Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) blev slået til linjen på fase 1 af Tour de Suisse Women af hendes tidligere holdkammerat Marlen Reusser (Movistar), da Reusser vandt sprinten, efter at duoen samarbejdede for at distancere deres konkurrence i løbet af de sidste 57 km på scenen. Det var Reusser, der indledte flytningen i nedstigningen fra Jaunpass, og Vollering broede til hende efter en hurtig ned ad bakke.
“She attacked in the descent just when I had a bottle in my hand, so I did not react directly. I let the others do it first, but then I saw that I needed to do it myself. So I jumped after her because if you give Marlen too much space, you will not see her back. And when I was on her wheel, I was like, 'Oh no, now it's going to be a long, long way to the finish'. But we worked pretty well together and it was nice, we did exactly the same arbejde, “sagde Vollering i et interview med CyclingPro.net efter scenen.
“I didn't feel so good today, because of the heat, I think. When she did the attack in the last kilometres, I felt she had still a good punch, so I was like, 'OK, I'm going to wait for the sprint'. But I went a bit too early, and then Marlen had a really strong sprint. I also think Marlen really, really wanted to win this, in her own country, of course, it's really special for her, so I think today she could give a bit Ekstra, “forklarede Vollering.
I løbet af scenen havde Vollering fortalt Reusser, at hun havde problemer med sin mave, og Reusser svarede “Demi, når du har problemer med din mave, er du super god, men” – og på trods af ikke at føle hendes bedste, fik Vollering Reusser til at arbejde meget hårdt for scenesejren.
Reusser havde selv udført holdets plan perfekt, og i et interview med den schweiziske tv -selskab SRF forklarede hun tankerne bag at angribe med over 60 km at gå.
“We knew that the two climbs, especially the Jaunpass, would be selective in this heat. There would be small groups, and if you attack those, you always have a 'second group syndrome', as we call it. People look at each other, nobody is really committed to chasing because you run the risk of being attacked if you sacrifice yourself. So we knew, whether I'd be alone or in a small group, if we race hard, it will be hard for the dropped riders to get back on because it's Simpelthen så plukket fra hinanden efter en så hård stigning.
