96 athletes, spread across 17 teams, took part in the first women's national tour in 20 years - including no fewer than 28 Swiss women. The locals didn't just take part - no, they knew how to showcase themselves in the best possible way with passionate performances. Elise Chabbey surprisingly outsprinted Britain's Elizabeth Deignan in the sprint in Saturday's coupe stage; Marlen Reusser and Jolanda Neff followed in 3rd and 4th place. In Sunday's flat section, former world and European champion Marta Bastianelli emerged from a breakaway group. Like Neff, mountain bike specialist Linda Indergand, who rode for the Swiss Cycling Team, finished fourth.

Because Deignan, world champion in 2015, won five bonus seconds on Sunday, she relegated Chabbey to second place in the overall standings by one second. With Reusser (3rd), Neff (4th) and Sina Frei (10th), other Swiss riders finished in the top ten - despite the pandemic: the stages were streamed live by Swiss television.

The high level of acceptance of the Tour de Suisse Women in society is revealed by the result of the kilometer collection campaign carried out under the auspices of the Swiss Cycling women's support project #fastandfemaleSUI. Because the protective measures to contain the pandemic only allowed top-level sporting competitions and prevented the integration of recreational athletes into the event, amateur cyclists were encouraged to pedal themselves, support the athletes in this way and set an example at the same time. The goal was 500,000 kilometers in 50 days, and just over one million kilometers were achieved in 55 days. This can be seen as a very strong signal for women's cycling.

The first Tour de Suisse Women is not to be the only one - on the contrary: in the medium term, there are plans to expand to four to six stages, and preparations for the Tour de Suisse Women 2022 are already underway. "The exciting competitions and the huge public interest encourage us in our efforts to drive forward the development of Swiss women's cycling. We are on the right track," says Thomas Peter, Managing Director of the national association Swiss Cycling, which initiated the launch of the Tour de Suisse Women.swiss-cycling.ch