Stage 4 of the Tour de Switzerland Women provided a breathtaking finale to the alpine stage race as just four riders broke free from the front group of 127.5, with a dozen kilometers remaining on the 13 km route. Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) tried to neutralize multiple attacks by the Canyon-SRAM duo of Kasia Niewiadoma and Neve Bradbury over the last 10km, hoping for a final effort in the sprint in champagne.

The last spark from the Italian champion fell short of Demi Volling (SD Worx・Protime), who in 4 days won her 3rd stage and overall title

"I left my lungs on the road there. Maybe some farmers will be able to pick them up and give them back to me," Longo Borgini joked in a post・stage interview.

Her Lidl-Trek team raced aggressively, setting a hard pace from the first climb of the day and then sending Brodie Chapman into a strong breakaway. On the last climb, the team launched an attack on Longo Borgini at the expense of Gaia Realni.

"We really wanted a hard race, but when the breakaway happened it was a bit of a poker game. But she was virtually 3rd place, so we had confidence in Brody, so we let her go," Longo Borgini explained.

"When SD Worx-Protime started chasing, we decided to go completely on the last climb with a full lead-out from Gaia. I still had Brodie down the road, and she did a great job bridging back to detachment."

The 32-year-old did everything he could to keep the 4 front groups together for the sprint, but he volleyed and passed at 200 meters. At the Tour de Switzerland, Longo Borgini was runner-up in the volleying on stage and was second in the time trial.

As Bradbury finished in 3rd place that day, Longo Borgini did not pass the young Australians in the general classification and finished the race in 3rd place overall. Nevertheless, she was full of praise for her teammates for carrying out the plans for the day.

"In the final, it was just roulette, it was hard to keep it together, and Demi was the strongest in the sprint. But great credit to my team because we raced really super well. My teammates were really on top of it, thank them, it was a really good team exhibit," said Longo Borgini.