La Vuelta Femenina stage 2 LIVE: Five riders go clear with just over halfway to go
No categorised mountains on tap for stage 2, however, the 109km route profile is anything but flat.
The peloton are just holding the break at about a minute.
The break have managed to extend their gap back out to around a minute.
Now on a bit of a rise and the pace in the bunch is seeing some riders get dropped out of the back. Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto) and Sterre Vervloet (Lotto-Intermarché) are two of them.
The break are working well together, though. Schrempf, Casagranda, Meert, Van de Velde, and Rondel are doing a good job.
After some damp roads at the start, the riders have a bit of sunshine beating down on their shoulders.
Now over a minute for the leaders.
48" gap now as this five rider break continues to work well together.
The gap expands to 30".
Attack
Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Premier Tech)
Andrea Casagranda (Vini Fantini-Bepink)
Julie van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Marieke Meert (Lotto-Intermarché)
Léa Rondel (Mayenne-Monbana-Mypie)
A new move gets a small gap on the peloton.
Abandon
The Kiwi has been struggling with illness and was unable to continue.
After one hour of racing the average speed is at 33.5kph.
Now the pace has completely dropped and there's nothing happening. It has been very stop-start so far today.
It is all very cagey in the peloton. No-one is willing to let a breakaway form.
And those counter moves only achievement was to drag the race back together again.
More riders are trying to bridge to the leading duo.
Immediately, an answer may be coming to that question as a gap is formed between the peloton and an attacker.
The race heads onto the Alto do Vieiro. The uncategorised climb is 11.2km long and has kickers of over 10%. A chance for a break to go?
It has been a chaotic period of the race with several riders trying to form a break but the peloton are having none of it.
🏁 95 km | Etapa 2️⃣ - Stage 2️⃣ 🫧🫧 Carretera mojada, mucha velocidad e intentos de fuga en estos primeros kilómetros 💥 Wet roads, high speeds and several breakaway attempts mark the opening kilometres racecenter.lavueltafemenina.es/es/ #LaVueltaFemenina
— @lavueltafem.bsky.social (@lavueltafem.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-05-04T12:47:32.861Z
The riders are travelling over a mix of dry and wet roads with lots of mud on the grassy verges that could be washed onto the road and cause a hazard.
The pace in the peloton suddenly changes with Lidl-Trek coming to the front. This has caught a few riders off guard and has seen a split form in the bunch.
There's been a couple of moves to try and get away but nothing of any note. Each time someone tries to just sneak off the front, the rest of the pack follows.
It has been quite the season so far from Noemi Rüegg. With the EF Education-Oatly rider coming off the back of defending her title at the Tour Down Under in January. Since then, she has been super consistent with multiple top 10s and several podiums.
"I knew this finish was perfect for me. If I could draw my dream stage, it would end exactly like this," said Rüegg, in reference to the short climb to the line in Galicia, where an explosive uphill sprint was required.
"I knew I could trust in a long sprint, so I knew from the last corner I wanted to go full gas and all in. The team put me in a great position and I just went all out from the last corner. I didn't want to have any regrets. I had a gap pretty much immediately and was like 'ok just keep going', then I looked back and saw I could make it to the finish. It’s a dream.
"The team believed in me so much and it was big goal to go for the win, but the girls believed in it more than I did," Rüegg added, hinting at a level of confidence that will surely only grow from here.
>>> The rise of Rüegg: Why the Vuelta Femenina win is a breakthrough moment for the Swiss puncheur
The riders begin in overcast conditions but at a pleasant 14ºC. A little bit of a chill for riders getting used to the warmer weather. Not much wind but what there is of it is coming from the west, meaning it is a gentle crosswind for the moment. Unfortunately for the riders, we are getting some more Galician weather with some rain set to join the riders for the second part of the day.
A steady start to the race sees no moves to form a break. This is the usual pattern, though. There is plenty of time for the race to open up.
124 riders started today with Vos and Lea Lin Teutenberg (Lotto-Intermarché) being the only riders not to start today. The young German abandoned the race yesterday.
With Rüegg in red after stage 1, the green points jersey is being worn by Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime).
Selfie del día 🤳🥹Startline selfie 🤳😍#LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/4BpF96mX02May 4, 2026
The riders have started the 7.4km neutralised section out of Lobios, the smallest start town of the race this year with a population of just 1766.
📍𝐋𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐒🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 2️⃣!💪 Here is the stage 2️⃣ neutral start!#LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/noY6UI8Vh6May 4, 2026
The neutral start is due in around five minutes with the official race start coming just 17 minutes later.
There is only one intermediate sprint on this 109.8km route today. It comes with 30km to go.
Now, onto today's stage. Lumpier than the race's opener but it should be the same sort of riders involved in the finish. A mix of punchy riders and GC riders. Rüegg has a good chance to double up after her emphatic win yesterday...
Before focusing on today's stage, the news broke this morning that Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) will not be taking to the start today due to a broken collarbone after crashing yesterday.
Yesterday was a chaotic stage with a magnificent victory from Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly). Relive the action with our post race report below...
Hola and welcome to Cyclingnews' live report on the second stage of this year's La Vuelta Femenina 2026.
