After Thursday’s surprise stage winner, normal service resumed on Friday as Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-SUEZ) won stage 2 in Dieulefit at the Faun Tour Femmes.
Berthet was dropped by Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) on the last of three climbs, but stayed in touch, reaching the New Zealander at the top and then out-sprinting her to take her first win in two years.
With two stages to go, the two riders are tied on time, but Fisher-Black leads the general classification by dint of finishing two places ahead of Berthet on stage 1.
For the second stage of what was once snappily-named the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche, the rebranded Faun Tour Femmes took on a 106.1 km route starting and finishing in Dieulefit.
After an attacking opening, two riders got away, Maite Urteaga (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) and Elisa Valtulini (Vini Fantini-BePink), building a lead approaching four minutes.
With almost 1,500 metres of climbing, the route consisted of three laps, each tackling the second category Col du Pertuis, and on the second ascent not only was Valtulini dropped, but the gap began to drop.
At the start of the final 35km lap, Urteaga’s lead sat at 1:35 with attacks from Lidl-Trek in what remained in the peloton lifting the pace, but a concerted effort from Anna Henderson provided the impetus to bring the Spanish rider back, and she was caught with 29km to go.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
As the peloton swelled, the pace eased and Ema Comte (France) attacked, the 21-year-old allowed a lead of 1:50. However, she was brought back by Berthet and Fisher-Black at the base of the final climb with 10km left and the duo got away.
For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
Results
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Stage 2 top 10
Position
Rider (Country) Team
Time Gap
1
Juliette Berthet (Fra) FDJ United-SUEZ
2:56:47
2
Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Lidl-Trek
Row 1 - Cell 2
3
Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-SUEZ
0:00:21
4
Sidney Swierenga (Can) Liv AlUla Jayco
Row 3 - Cell 2
5
Urška Žigart (Slo) AG Insurance-Soudal
Row 4 - Cell 2
6
Lore De Schepper (Bel) AG Insurance-Soudal
0:00:49
7
Megan Arens (Ned) Picnic PostNL
Row 6 - Cell 2
8
Julie Bego (Fra) Cofidis Women Team
0:00:56
9
Usoa Ostolaza Zabala (Spa) Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi
A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
