Marlen Reusser wins third Tour de Suisse with solo ride on final mountain stage
The Swiss rider overcame early aggression from Elisa Longo Borghini and a late move by Cédrine Kerbaol to win the queen stage and secure overall victory by 1 minute 31 seconds.
Marlen Reusser added a third Tour de Suisse title to her palmarès on Sunday, winning the decisive mountain stage in Villars-sur-Ollon. The 34-year-old from Bern had moved into the yellow jersey the day before with a time trial win in Aarburg and never looked in danger on the final day.
How the race unfolded
Over 100 kilometres and 3,000 metres of climbing made this the hardest edition since the race was rebooted in 2021. Longo Borghini, just ten seconds behind at the start, launched an early attack but was quickly countered by Reusser and dropped more than 50 km from the finish. A four-rider group featuring Reusser, Kasia Niewiadoma, Kerbaol and Femke de Vries stayed together for much of the second half.
It was a very hard stage, especially in the final climb. The heat also had an influence, I'm really exhausted.
Inside the last kilometre Kerbaol attacked, but Reusser had enough left to jump clear and ride solo across the line for her second stage win in as many days.
Overall standings
Kerbaol finished second overall at 1:31, while Niewiadoma's aggressive final climb lifted her to third, 2:02 behind. Longo Borghini lost almost ten minutes and dropped off the podium entirely. Steffi Häberlin was the second-best Swiss rider in sixth place, 5:04 down.
- 2023
- 62 seconds
- 2025
- 36 seconds
- 2026
- 91 seconds
Reusser's 91-second margin is the largest of her three Tour de Suisse wins, after her 62-second victory in 2023 and a narrow 36-second gap in 2025.
Reusser's return from injury
Sunday's result caps a turnaround after an injury-hit spring. Reusser finished the Giro d'Italia only two weeks ago, where she had been dropped on key climbs.
I was quite confident, but it's barely two weeks since I finished the Giro, where some riders managed to drop me. This success confirms we have worked on the right things in between.
Looking ahead to the Tour de France
The victory is an important confidence boost before the Tour de France Femmes, which starts in Lausanne on 1 August. Reusser has twice been runner-up at the Vuelta a España but never won a Grand Tour overall. She acknowledged there is still work to do.
I'm still suffering a little, but we have learned from the Giro's mistakes, where I lacked strength. Now I need altitude. Compared to other riders, I also lack a lot of training.
