Stage 4 winner Marlen Reusser (SD Works) revealed that he had no idea at the start line this morning that he could win a stage in the Tour de France Femme with Zwift.

The Swiss rider seized the opportunity to attack in the last 25km of the gravelly stage and powerfully broke away from the lead group as the GC contenders glared at each other in the back.

"I didn't think I could win a stage of the Tour de France.

Reusser explained that her attack for the win was not necessarily her special plan or expectation for the day, but that the team was going to make the race hard and the result was an opportunity she had to take.

"We race hard. That was our goal." To race hard and create a situation where we can make a good attack. I just followed the process; we were a small group of only five. So if I wasn't going to attack, I definitely wasn't going to

"Obviously we needed to take advantage of the situation. We all attacked a lot and we were lucky to get clear on this attack.

Reusser had little motivation to chase from behind as she was no threat to GC, and she quickly built a 30-second advantage. Reusser is a strong Swiss rider in time trials, but she was also aware that her victory was due to her ability to ride in the back group.

"It's up to the remaining group to decide if they really want to let you go," she said. 'It's nice in a stage race to be interested in fighting for the GC, as opposed to a one-day race.'

"[The chase] is always the same process. If you understand that your time is not going to go up, your time will go up. It used to be harder to get a time because of the chase, but when you slow down the chase, you can get a time.

SD Woakes got the race going and won the fourth stage, but his plan to gain time in the overall for Demi Volering and Ashley Moolman-Pasio did not come to fruition.

Reusser explained that the constant jostling for position within the sector, as well as regrouping and re-evaluation, made it difficult to maintain a high pace.

"One problem was that the players weren't always together. First we had to figure out who was there, and after this gravel the road was still difficult and we needed time to figure out who was there, we missed two riders on two occasions and had to wait for them to come back so we didn't attack."

The victory came after a difficult season in which she missed her home Tour de Suisse and national championships due to COVID-19, but the 30-year-old was reluctant to flaunt it.

"I really don't like to chart my victories or compare things," she said. I think each moment is special, and I really enjoy them, but I don't overestimate them. I think life is the same before and after, and it's so nice to have this in my pocket and experience it with the team and staff at SD Worx.