Urška Žigart Reflects on Giro d'Italia Crash at Tour de Suisse Women

Urška Žigart experienced a challenging opening stage of the Tour de Suisse Women, marked by memories of her crash during the Giro d'Italia. While she demonstrated her climbing ability with strong performances earlier this year, the descent leading to the finishing line on June 18, 2026, proved to be a mental hurdle.

At the Giro d'Italia Women, Žigart suffered a fall on the last day while descending. Despite getting back up to finish 12th in that stage and placing eighth overall, the impact of the crash lingered. The AG Insurance-Soudal rider described the incident simply as a crash in the corner on the descent, but she later revealed that it had a more intense emotional toll than initially perceived.

In an interview after the stage, she shared her feelings about the crash: "I knew it was going to be a bit sketchy because [of the crash] in the Giro. It wasn't on TV, but it was pretty scary. I was hanging over the barrier and, yeah, I'm still feeling a bit scared of that moment." This anxiety affected her descent capabilities during the Tour de Suisse Women stage.

Žigart, aged 29, felt somewhat less confident on the descents, despite her preparation and improvements in that area. This weakened confidence was evident when she decided to break away early in the race, forming a group of around twelve riders after the Buglio in Monte climb. "It was a bit of a risky move, a bit of racing on instinct," she acknowledged. As the competition reached the top of the Triangia climb with 27 kilometers remaining, she was in a leading trio that temporarily increased their gap.

However, as the downhill segment approached, she struggled to maintain her position and drifted away from the group. Ultimately, Žigart finished in 17th place, crossing the line 1:42 behind the stage winner and race leader, Femke de Vries. "Of course, it's a shame because I felt really strong and the break made it to the finish, but we still have four interesting days to come and Kim is also feeling really good," she noted regarding her teammate Kim Le Court-Pienaar.

Le Court-Pienaar, returning to racing after fracturing her wrist at the Tour of Flanders, ultimately secured fourth place. The opening stage of the Tour de Suisse Women demonstrated both the potential and the vulnerabilities of Žigart as she confronted the residual mental challenges following her earlier crash.