It is quite probable that Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) will wear polka dots at some point during a stage race. The 30-year-old Swiss climber, who began riding bikes relatively late after completing his medical degree, has accumulated a number of mountain jerseys over the past few years. She also won the KOM classification in the 2021 and 2022 Ladies’s Excursions, the 2022 Itzulia Ladies, this year’s Tour de Suisse, and placed highly in numerous other races.
Chabbey’s main goal
But the mountain jersey isn’t Chabbey’s main goal, as she disclosed in an interview with Cyclingnews before the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
“I think it’s just my way of sprinting and assaulting. I like to attack at the top of the climb because I believe that’s where people find it most difficult to see me. It’s also my way of entering the downhills because I like the downhills, so that’s another reason. Though it hasn’t really been a goal in and of itself, I usually factor in the mountain jersey when I have it, explains Chabbey.
Chabbey doesn’t just give up the jersey, however, as soon as she puts it on. She attempts to act as if picking up mountain factors is a possibility that doesn’t drain her too much, but the main goal is to advance through a stage or finish above the basic classification.
It’s a good idea to wear the jersey and stand on the rostrum, after all. For instance, I used to feel very happy to stand on the podium in my home country every day during the Tour de Suisse. While it’s nice to have, she adds, “We always aim for the general classification or a stage win with the team; the mountain jersey is a bonus.”
Tour de France Femmes
“Yes, it’s good when I have it, know it has the potential to last, and don’t have to put in a lot of work to pursue factors.” Chabbey and her team’s focus for the 2023 season is the Tour de France Femmes, and they have ambitious goals for the competition.
This year’s tour is going to be really difficult, I predict. We completed the recon, and every step is really difficult. Stage victories and GC will, in my opinion, almost go together. Chabbey saw a well-rounded Canyon-SRAM Tour team. “We didn’t have the assembly yet, so I’m not sure exactly what the technique will likely be for day-by-day; however, overall, the group is kind of sturdy with various kinds of riders,” the reporter said.
“I think we can aim for a challenging race every day. The objective is probably going to be to win the stage, and in the last 12 months, Kasia Niewiadoma finished third overall. She acknowledged that she may be among the best, and I think she will prove it again this year. Niewiadoma would most likely be the group’s GC chief if they were to reach the GC podium, according to her definition of the best outcome for the group. When asked about her personal goals, Chabbey said unequivocally what she considered to be more important: “I think winning a stage is more important.” I think I could go for it,” she said.
Thus far in her career, Chabbey has won the non-UCI event Berner Rundfahrt in Switzerland in 2019, the Swiss championships in 2020, stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse in 2021, and the Combined Relay World Championship in 2022 with the Swiss national team. She does, however, own a number of strong leads for both classics and races. In the Tour de France Femmes, winning a stage might lead to an additional promotion or, in the event of a tie, the mountain jersey.
Mountain jersey is primarily a goal
“The mountain jersey is primarily a goal for many individuals throughout the tour; everyone wants to be on the podium. We saw last year that Demi Vollering won the mountain jersey at the finish; she’s one of the best candidates to win it, Chabbey said, adding that if she had chosen to go for the polka-dot jersey, she would have had great opposition. However, with the day’s only classified climb occurring less than ten kilometers from the finish, the shape of the first stage around Clermont-Ferrand is ideal for an attack on the stage that may also win the mountain jersey.
“Whoever is first up the hill may even be first over the finish line, so it’s safe to say that one of the strongest players in the group will win. Chabbey said that she and her team would give it their best from the start of the race. “I need to be aggressive and try to go for the stage,” she said.