Kristen Faulkner (BikeExchange-Jayco) took the leader's jersey in the second stage of the Tour de Suisse women's time trial. Now the final mountain day stands between her and the possibility of her first overall win.

Faulkner is four seconds ahead of Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) in the overall standings, with teammate Georgia Williams 14 seconds back in third and Pauliena Loijackers (Canyon-SRAM) in fourth, 34 seconds behind. Behind Reuijckers, Yolanda Neff (Swiss Cycling) follows 1:28 behind. Stage 3 was an uphill sprint affair, won by world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo).

"The team rode well to hold off the break. At one point we were dropped, but Georgia and I chased and the team held us up."

"Going into the climb, I was on Brando's wheel and tried to mark her as much as I could. She was only four seconds away, so I was really happy with how the break worked out.

The final GC test was a 98.5 km stage that included two Category 1 mountains: the first climb was the Wolfgang Pass (6.3 km, 6.8%), which peaked with around 55 km to go; the second climb was the Ranchu (6.3 km, 8.1%), the last km of which was flat. [Sport director Alejandro Gonzalez-Tablas said, "Tomorrow is the queen stage." We don't have a big gap to other climbers like Rui Jackers, but we will do our best to put Kristen in the best possible position to defend the jersey." "It's up to the legs to see what they can do."

The GC win in the UCI Classification Tour is Faulkner's first GC win in Europe since she started racing in 2020, but quickly gained attention with a stage win at the Tour Féminine de Lardèche and the first stage at the Ladies' Tour of Norway the following season It was Faulkner's first success in the following season, when she won the first stage of the Ladies' Tour of Norway.

In 2022, her first season with BikeExchange-Jayco, Faulkner has already finished in the top 10 of a stage or one-day race eight times, including three podium finishes, despite a disrupted start after a training crash before Strade Bianche He has finished on the podium on three of those occasions. She also recently finished seventh in the GC of the Women's Tour, and earlier in the season she was third overall on the podium in the Ituria Women's race.

At the Tour de Suisse, however, her sights are firmly set on the top step.

"It's going to be a really hard stage tomorrow and you never know what can happen on the final climb," she said. I'm feeling hungry and confident. I'm confident, but I have to race my best so I don't make any mistakes."

"It's going to be a tough race," he said.

"It will hurt and I know that, but I will give it my all."