Despite the five categorized climbs peppered throughout the day’s 147.9 kilometers, today’s stage was designated as flat and the expected sprint finish unfolded. Our squad accomplished our main priorities for the day: conserve energy unless a dangerous break went up the road and set up Noemi for the sprint finish. Nina took off in a late breakaway and shook things up with an aggressive attack before the peloton eventually reabsorbed her. Heading into the sprint, our squad worked well to bring Noemi into the finale so she could pick and choose wheels to follow. She ended the day in eighth, and both she and Cédrine moved up on GC to fourth and sixth, respectively. 

“That’s the best feeling [when my parents are at the race]. It’s not often that we race in Switzerland so to have the Tour here is even extra motivation in the race to know that your parents are at the finish and you just know that no matter what happens you will get a hug from your parents. That’s the best part.

“It was quite tight in the end, so chapeau to Riejanne [Markus] for making it so far. SD Worx took control and I think the other teams just let them do the work because they were the big favorites. In the end it worked out for the sprinters.

“We don’t really have a sprinter’s team here so the girls are not really used to doing bunch sprint lead outs but they did an absolutely fantastic job to keep me safe and have a really good lead out. Then it was up to me to surf the wheels. I think I still need to get this race instinct back after such a long time without racing but I think it’s coming back and I’m happy to be safe and sound in the finish.

“Kristen did an amazing pull. If she’s riding the front, you know you’re just safe on the wheel and nothing can go wrong because she can put the power down like no one else.” - Noemi Rüegg

“Today was kind of like a rest day for our girls, to be honest. Like Noemi is 100 percent to race but still with the sprinting and out of the bars, and it's always a question mark with that, just with the stability and the strength around it. So today, it was let's do the sprint to see how it goes, and test it a bit. And the other girls, we can't miss an important break, so they were kind of on that duty, and then to execute another good lead out into the finish, and it's good practice always to do that. So, those were our goals for the day, so check and check, and to save energy, especially for, like, Cédrine and for some of the girls who didn't need to do something today, save some energy. We're looking more down the road to get a result.

“I think we executed the plan today. We knew Wiebes would want a sprint and to keep the jersey, so they would control. I think Trek showed their cards pretty early, attacking. So we knew it was more the girls needed to be in any dangerous moves, of something that could stay away potentially. Nina was really good on the climb and she went into a group of eight, which was really good. But we kind of knew it wasn’t going to stay away normally and we just prepared for the sprint, so doing a good lead out, being in good position, and the girls did a really good job. It's a fine line of too early, and not early enough, so just to find that balance. They did a good job actually staying a bit further back today behind SD Worx, and then they moved up later. Also, we missed Henri in the final, so that was one less person. They did do a good job of being flexible from the plan we said on the bus to what was actually happening. So, it was really good. They lined up early. They were all together at the key moment, and then they stayed in front as long as possible, and they needed to deliver Noemi into another lead out train of another team, and they did that. 


“We need to save our energy as much as possible, because we do look forward to stages. So tomorrow will be mostly the same thing again. So they're doing it – they're executing the plan, they’re riding as a team, which is huge for success, so we're doing everything we can.” - Carmen Small, sports director

Nina jumped and landed herself in a late break with seven other riders. If you’ve seen her on RaceTV or our social channels, you know how much Nina loves aggressive racing, so when she sensed the break wasn’t cohesive and strong enough to make it, our Luxembourger didn’t hesitate to take matters into her own hands. Launching her attack, she hit 890 watts. Once she was away, Nina kept the pace high, pushing 450 watts for over a minute and then settled in at 320 watts for two more minutes.

It’s fitting that our world champion got her start on the World Cycling Center team. Mags lived in Aigle, Switzerland for her first two seasons, in a dorm not far from where stage two rolled out from today. The World Cycling Center team is part of a UCI initiative to develop riders from countries under-represented in the peloton. Most of Mags’ teammates have moved on from the WCC team but she was thrilled when her good friend Eyeru from Ethiopia came to see her at the team bus this morning.

The warm cardamom and lemon lift the richness of the almond filling, while the light touch of flaky salt makes the caramelized apples taste sweeter and more complex without making the tart noticeably salty. After a long day in the saddle, Owen’s apple tart is exactly what our riders most look forward to.

Serves 8–10 (28 cm)

Ingredients

1 × 28 cm shop-bought sablé pastry case

For the cardamom frangipane

150 g unsalted butter, softened

150 g caster sugar

150 g ground almonds

3 large eggs (150 g)

30 g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 tsp ground cardamom (or seeds from 10–12 pods, freshly ground)

Finely grated zest of ½ lemon

Pinch of fine sea salt

For the topping

2–3 crisp apples (Pink Lady, Braeburn or Jazz)

20 g melted butter

20 g demerara sugar

Pinch of flaky sea salt

To finish

Icing sugar

Optional: warm apricot jam for glazing

Method

Blind bake the pastry

Bake the sablé case at 170°C fan with baking beans for 15 minutes.

Remove the beans and bake for a further 5–7 minutes until the base is lightly golden. Cool slightly.

Make the frangipane

Beat the butter and sugar until smooth.

Mix in the eggs gradually.

Fold in the ground almonds, flour, vanilla, cardamom, lemon zest and salt until just combined.

Fill

Spread the frangipane evenly into the tart shell.

Top with apples

Slice the apples very thinly (2–3 mm).

Arrange in overlapping concentric circles.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the demerara sugar.

Bake

Bake at 170°C fan for 35–40 minutes, until the frangipane is set and golden.

Caramelize

If needed, finish under a hot grill or with a blowtorch for 1–2 minutes to deepen the caramelization.

Sprinkle with a small pinch of flaky sea salt while still warm to enhance the caramel flavor.

Serve

Brush lightly with warm apricot jam (optional) for shine.

Cool until just warm or room temperature.

Dust generously with icing sugar immediately before slicing and serving.

Vélo is the French word for bicycle. It derives from the French word vélocipède which refers to any human-powered land-based vehicle. Vélo comes from the Latin root meaning speed, while ped has its origin in the Latin word pes or ped for foot. As today’s stage wound its way through hillside vineyards, kissing the lake on its way to Geneva, we can think of no better way to explore the Swiss countryside than by vélo.