As it happened: Thrilling finale delivers a repeat winner on stage 2 of Women's Tour Down Under
Peloton tackles 130.7km from Magill to Paracombe
Women's Tour Down Under 2026 route
Absence of Willunga Hill creates wide-open 2026 Women's Tour Down Under – Analysing the contenders
Race Situation
Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez) wins stage 2
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 2 of the Women's Tour Down Under.
Riders are getting ready for a hot day, with ice vests aplenty and shade at a premium, given temperatures are already sitting around 30 degrees Celsius even now.
Stage 1 winner Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez) tops the general classification with a slim 4-second lead on Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) and 5 seconds on Olivia Baril (Movistar). Last year’s overall winner Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) sits fourth overall, a further one second down. There are 52 riders down 10 seconds or less on GC.
Read what Wollaston had to say about her stage 1 victory - ‘As a sprinter, it's kind of out of your hands’ - Women’s Tour Down Under stage 1 winner Ally Wollaston avoids being trumped by solo break this time.
Second on stage 1 and on GC called the opening stage ‘Nervous and chaotic' - Josie Nelson powers through hectic sprint finale for podium finish in opening Tour Down Under stage.
It's going to be a hot one!
Stage 2 of the Women's Tour Down Under is set to start in just under 5 minutes. Starting in a new host city of Magill, the 130.7km stage2 has very little flat terrain. The course rolls up and down the whole way, ending in the Adelaide Hills for three kickers near the end of the stage in Paracombe.
Here’s what race director Stuart O’Grady said about stage 2: “This is a fantastic stage focused on showcasing all the Adelaide Hills has to offer. It features an aggressive Paracombe circuit which has a rich history in South Australian cycling, and the finish is a difficult uphill run, so there will be lots of opportunities for attacks and entertaining racing.”
The peloton, down to 84 riders, is rolling through a very short 0.9 neutral section on its way to the official start.
The heavy crash in the closing kilometres yesterday had an impact. Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Mobility) crossed the finish line outside the time limit. Katia Ragusa did not finish the stage, and Human Powered Health shared this update via social media
Update: Initial examinations showed Katia did not sustain any broken bones as a result of crashing on stage 1 of @tourdownunderKatia stayed in hospital overnight but is in good spirits and will have further checks today.Join us in sharing your well wishes for her recovery ❤️🩹… pic.twitter.com/5WX3SozDSJJanuary 17, 2026
Georgia Baker was covered in mud with a heavily bandaged knee and limping as she got off the bike after crossing the line yesterday. Liv AlUla Jayco announced before today’ stage that she would not take the start to focus on her recovery. The Australian Women’s WorldTour team is down to 4 riders, after Amber Pate did not start due to a training ride crash.
❌ MEDICAL UPDATE🇦🇺 #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/THKOXw353lJanuary 17, 2026
Go time!
Flag drop by race director Stuart O’Grady and we're out of the neutral zone and racing has started.
The first challenge comes early with the first of five QOMs today, a cat 2 climb, coming just 10 kilometres after the flag drops as the riders make their way up Norton Summit Road with an average gradient of 4% and max of 12.5%. A perfect launching point for attacks.
Gaia Realini closed the move down. She showed she was interested in the KOM yesterday.
No one was able to escape yet. Peloton back together.
Another attack by Visma. Reijnhout tries again,
Reijnhout keeps checking over her shoulder as the field is closing in on her. She has a few seconds to the pack.
All back together. And now it Fenix-Premier Tech's Lotte Claes accelerating at the front.
Pack spread across the road. Big teams represented at the front.
Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility) took the first QOM jersey after spending almost the whole stage off the front being caught in the final 300 meters.'If the race was a kilometre shorter that would have been better' - After nearly 100km solo Alessia Vigilia caught in sight of line at Women's Tour Down Under
Vigilia's teammate Anouska Koster is controlling the pace at the front as the pack sees 5km to top of QOM. Koster was very active yesterday, trying to disrupt the chase.
Josie Talbot attacks for Liv AlUla Jayco. Move is quickly closed down.
Visma counters once again, and the pace accelerates as Koster closes the gap.
Tiffany Cromwell is falling off the pace. with 2.6km to the top of the climb.
Realini accelerates once again. She is itching to get those QOM points.
Vigilia is sitting on her teammate's Koster's wheel. Next to Koster is Realini and Blasi's team UAE Team ADQ is also lining up at the front with 1km to top.
Vigilia makes the first move with 600 metres to. Realini gets on her wheel with Blasi also following.
Realini attacks on the steepest part of the climb, Blasi counters and accelerates to get maximum points.
Blasi speeds down the descent, joined by Bradbury and more riders. Field is stretched out as they fly down.
Splits in the bunch at least two distinct groups.
Attack by Australian champion Mackenzie Coupland.
Coupland is not giving up, she is joined by a few more riders.= as they start to pull away.
Coupland was joined by Loes Adegeest, Lauren Dickson and one more rider. Visma is leading the chase.
Attacks continue as an SD Worx rider closes the gap. Back together
SD Worx' Femke Gerritse counters with a solo attack. Looks behind her to see if anyone else will go with her.
Vigilia is in trouble at the back of the peloton. Behind her is a second group on the road.
Team cars are going by the second group of around 11 riders on the road. They are down by over 1 minute with 113km to go.
Blasi now leads the QOM classification with 12 points, 2 more than overnight leader Vigilia. Realini is in third with 8 points.
4 more QOMs to come in stage 2.
Another attack by Gerritse. Immediate reaction by FDJ United-Suez, as second group on the road reconnects with peloton.
After a little break in attacks, Talbot makes a move at the front, which is quickly covered. Nothing has been allowed to escape.
Many riders are going to their team cars to get some bottles as the race calms down.
FDJ has taken up the front of the peloton monitoring the action for race leader Wollaston.
Fenix duo goes on the attack. Visma and Movistar react immediately.
Carina Schrempf and Flora Perkins at the 2 Fenix riders trying to surprise the peloton.
Reaction by Adegeest who is chasing solo and connect with the duo bringing more riders with her.
7 riders now in the break attempt but Visma is closing it down,
Fenix's Perkins counters as soon as they are caught. More riders react.
Peloton is going through the first feedzone of stage 2. Riders are dumping water on themselves on a hot day of racing.
Wilma Aintila attacks. The peloton doesn't react so she quickly calls on the radio. One guesses that she's asking if she should continue solo with 97km to go.
Aintila (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) has 20 seconds on the field which seems quite happy to let her suffer off the front.
Temperatures are now hitting 34 Celcius, and expected to rise. Marion Brunel was at her Visma team car getting an ice sock and bottles for her teammates.
Aintila, a 21-year-old rider from Finland, now has a 1-minute gap as the peloton is spread across the road with 94km to go.
5km to the first intermediate sprint. Points and time bonus seconds are up for grabs for the first three riders to cross the line in Lobethal
Pink colors of EF lining up at the front one one side of the road with FDJ on the other side. Battle for time bonus seconds coming up inside of 2 km to the sprint.
World champion Magedeline Vallieres takes the front to lead out her teammate and defending champion Noemi Rüegg
Aintila takes 3 points and the 3-second time bonus seconds with a gap of 1:39 to the field at first intermediate sprint.
Battle for the bonus seconds. Wollaston, Baril, and more fighting for position,
Wollaston crosses the line in second place to get 2 points and a 2-second time bonus, holding off Sarah Van Dam who was third.
Wollaston now drops back to her team car to get an ice sock from DS Lars Boom.
Amber Kraak is back at the front of the peloton, controlling the pace once again for race leader Wollaston. She did the majority of the work yesterday too.
Kraak is keeping the gap around the 1:30 mark to the solo rider up the road, Aintila.
Let's hear what Jess Allen, Liv AlUla Jayco DS had to say to Cyclingnews this morning about the withdrawal of Georgia Baker:
Aintila seemed to slip a gear but quickly got going again, keeping her gap at 1:27 with 77km to go.
Stage 1 was the first opportunity to see the 2026 jerseys for the Women’s WorldTour teams in a race. Any of them stand out?
Coming close to the halfway point on the 130km stage, the riders are feeling the heat. Aintila's gap is now 1:11 as they face the undulating terrain on their way to the three finishing circuits in Paracombe.
Australian Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) has abandoned the race.
The course rolls up and down the whole way on stage 2 from Magill to Paracombe.
Aintila sees 1.7km to go to the top of QOM #2, cat. 2 Norsworthy Climb on Hill Road at Kersbrook, new to the race, which reaches a maximum incline of 10 per cent.
Uno-X, Lidl-Trek and UAE are massing at the front, getting ready for the upcoming QOM battle.
Human Powered Health is also coming forward. The team has not shown any interest in QOM points. Are they going to attack after the climb? We'll know soon.
Lidl taking control in the peloton as Aintila crosses the QOM line with a gap of 1:09. The gap tumbled on the climb.
Blasi once again crosses the QOM line in second place ahead of Realini. Blasi increased her lead in the classification.
The climb and the following descent, have ignited the peloton. The gap is now down to 28 seconds.
Peloton is closing in to Aintila with 2.7km to go to the second intermediate sprint and the all-important time bonus seconds.
Aintila has 20 seconds with 1km to go to the intermediate sprint in Kersbrook.
Aintila crosses the line first to get the 3 points and the 3-second time bonus.
Aintila is reeled in, and attacks immediately fly off the front.
Wollaston was second across the line once again, ahead of defending champion Ruegg.
Tiffany Cromwell tries to escape but is reeled back. Next counter by EF's Alice Towers. She looks back and sees that she couldn't get away to sits up.
Race leader Wollaston raises her hand, calling for her team car.
More attacks. This time is Talbot yet again trying her luck.
Next attack from Paula Ostiz is quickly marked.
Peloton still together as they head towards the three finishing circuits. Pressure on an uncategorized climb causes a split in the field.
Kraak is covering a solo attack by Mavi Garcia, as the peloton is chasing with 39km to go.
The duo seem to sit up and Mikayla Harvey goes to the front briefly.Lull in the peloton.
Scratch that. Blasi attacks after her teammates tried to escape but were not able to get away.
Another attack by Dominika Wlodarczyk was quickly closed down. The aggression continues, as they approach the finish line to start the first lap. And they get a chance to see the approach to the line.
UAE goes again with QOM leader Blasi.
Peloton is all together with 34km to go. FDJ is on the right side of the road, protecting Wollaston with Lidl staying close to the front too.
Going down in yesterday's crash, a bandaged up Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) abandoned while in the feedzone.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Amanda Spratt go on the attack but can't escape.
So far, race leader Ally Wollaston has been well protected by her FDJ United-Suez squad
Attacks continue at the front. First Talbot and then best young rider Justyna Czapla with 29km to go.
Czapla looks over her shoulder as UAE works to close the small gap.
Peloton is back together on the climb of QOM #3 which will mark the start of the second lap of the finishing circuit. The 2.9km Paracombe Climb has an average gradient of 2.2%.
Blasi just nips across the line to get QOM points as the peloton was spread across the road.
Wollaston is at the back of the bunch as they race through the feedzone.
Cromwell goes on the attack and is quickly reeled back.
Czapla counters but FDJ shuts down the move with 22.5km to go.
Cromwell gives it another go. An Adelaide local, Cromwell is racing on home roads.
Attacks continue. Margaux Vigié, then Talbot take a flyer.
Kraak and Maud Oudeman lead the chase to Talbot who has a small gap with 20km to go.
Wollaston is at the back of the peloton chatting with teammate Marie LeNet, the French national champion.
Peloton is flying down a descent, going 80kmph as Talbot has a 13-second lead.
Talbot is reeled back in with 16km to go. Who will attack next?
The answer is: Czapla attacks again, and Lauretta Hanson leads the chase to catch her.
The reduced peloton sees 2 km to go for QOM#4 and the start of the bell lap.
World champion Vallieres attacks and Blasi gets on her wheel.
Vallieres' attack cause a gap in the peloton, as Blasi goes around to cross the line first to get more QOM points.
Group gets back together, leading to another attack. Chloé Dygert joins the move and takes the front with 11km to go.
Dygert is being chased by Mireia Benito and Adegeest. Alarm bells are ringing!
Kopecky and Van Dam join the chase with 10km to go.
Alice Towers attacks the front to try and bridge across to the move which includes Dygert, Kopecky, Adegeest, Van Dam and Benito.
Van Dam takes over the pacemaking in the break briefly as Dygert goes back to apply pressure with 7.7km to go. They have 12 seconds on the reduced peloton.
Before the race, Dygert said that she was "sick of losing". The American is going all in, setting the pace in the break.
With 6km to go, the 5-rider break has 17 seconds on the reduced peloton.
Break, led by Benito, is going 91.3kmph on the descent with 5km to go.
Van Dam accelerates at the front, forcing Adegeest to close a small gap.
4km to go. The quintet has 19 seconds. Adegeest is the highest-placed rider in the move.
Van Dam attacks again as the others started to look at each other, and the gap went down to 13 seconds.
Dygert takes the front again as the gap is now 8 seconds with 2.2km to go.
Dygert sits up and Van Dam attacks with 1.4km to go. Dygert is responding.
Kopecky is the first one to lose touch.
EF is chasing hard from the peloton, reeling in Kopecky and the rest of the break.
Vallieres is leading out the reduced peloton
Rüegg opens up her sprint but Wollaston comes around to take the win, two out of two for the Kiwi.
Josie Nelson was third on the stage.
“It [the win] feels amazing. I was feeling really not good today. To be honest. I actually said to the girls, I'm not feeling good, and it would have been so frustrating for them to ride with me today, because I found it so hard to move up. But yeah, in the last 10k ,something really just switches mentally. And if I know it's gonna come down to a sprint, then yeah, something happens in the brain. And then I was there at the front. So I'm so, so happy.”
About the dangerous late -tage break: “I just had to have full belief in my team that they could do it. I was such a strong breakaway and not so great that we missed it. It was a real error on our part, and the burden really fell on us to chase. And we're so lucky. These girls just gave everything they could to catch a break. But like yesterday, I just have to sit there and just hope it comes back.”
About defending the ochre leader’s jersey on stage 3: “Rather not think about it right now. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I think it's really special to be able to hang on to the Jersey two days in a row. So I mean, I'll give everything I can to hold on to it tomorrow. But obviously, if you look at the profile, it's not really my kind of course. But we'll see how it goes.”
Let's hear from stage 2 runner-up and defending champion Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly)
“It was a tough day out, especially with the heat. It made it really hard, and I was always up and down. But I have to say big thanks to the girls, my teammates. They covered me all day, kept me safe, fed me well, kept me cool, and they covered all the attacks so I could rest as much as possible and focus on the final. I had a great lead-out, had a great sprint. I'm happy with it, but Ally was strong today, so congrats to her. Happy with this performance."
About the world champion and teammate Madeline Vallieres working for her in the finale - "It means really a lot if you have the world champion pulling the breakaway back for you and doing such a great lead-out for you that's really special, and it motivates me even more. So it shows what the champion Mags is like on and off the bike. And I’m just really, really happy to be her teammate."
"It was really hot, and it made it even more harder. I would have hoped to get somebody with me. It was a long time alone, but I had some fun. Just the roads were so lovely. I just enjoyed it with the flow. Were up and down all the time. It was like a bit of a punchy climb. It would suit me well. So I had a good day out,”
About her team - “We are here for winning. And we are here with a really strong team, a team who have the knowledge of how we ride it, ride together, and really experienced riders. So we are here to ride it full of and yesterday was a bit [of a] pity. Two of us were behind the crash late in so we were really, really, really hungry to get it a good day out, and keen tomorrow to make it even more harder and go for the stage win tomorrow.”
Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here: Ally Wollaston edges Noemi Rüegg to take second win on stage 2
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