"Our goal is to keep the jersey" - Urska Zigart on the verge of winning Tour de Romandie Féminin

Urska Zigart has only one international professional victory to her name. But her 2021 stage win at the Vuelta Comunitat Valenciana Feminas (2.1) may not feel so lonely in her palmares anymore after Sunday. The AG Insurance - Soudal rider moved up to overall lead of the Tour de Romandie Féminin after two days of racing and two second places. But the battle on Swiss roads will ignite again on the final stage around Aigle with three riders within 13 seconds in the general classification.

While Paula Blasi flied through the opening prologue, Zigart lost the second stage in a head-to-head clash with more experienced Elise Chabbey. "It was a really nice stage with a long climb at the end, and as a team, we took the initiative to set the pace," the Slovenian began a post-race interview. "I'm a little sad that I didn't have the legs to win, but hats off to Elise, she played to her strengths."

"I'm happy to be leaving with the yellow jersey today, and tomorrow, we'll give it our all," she promised. The final stage of this year's Tour de Romandie Féminin will offer intriguing parcours with multiple short, explosive efforts. "Our goal is to keep the jersey and aim for victory; it's an interesting stage with some climbs around Aigle, so we'll try to control the race and see what happens."

The main threat to Zigart's overall victory will be none other than second overall Chabbey, only 8 seconds behind. In addition, third place Yara Kastelijn is only 5 second further in the standings. "Elise will clearly be my main rival, she already showed her strength today on the climbs, so I'll have to be careful and think a little about the general classification. We have to stay attentive, play to our strengths, and if an opportunity arises for one of our riders to win the stage, we'll seize it," Zigart concluded.