Juliette Labous finished off a strong team performance on the short but punchy opening stage, taking sixth place on Villars-sur-Ollon.
At just 58 kilometres, the race started relatively calmly as the bunch tackled the first climb as one before an attack on the long descent into the valley saw a solo leader gain an advantage that eventually reached almost three minutes. The team stuck to the plan, however working hard to set Labous up for the final seven-kilometre climb to the finish.
After the stage, Labous said: “It was a very short race, with a fast start… and it was wet. Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) managed to escape over the first climb and I was in the first group when it all came back together. The girls did a great job positioning me for the final climb but it was just full gas from the bottom. I found my rhythm and paced myself as well as possible to the top. I tried to lose as little time as possible going into the next stages, but I think sixth was a good result today. I hope that tomorrow I can do better in tomorrow’s TT, where I can take the climb at my own pace and make up some time.”