Setmana Valenciana: Cat Ferguson powers to sprint victory on stage 2

VILA-REAL, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 13: Cat Ferguson of Great Britain and Team Movistar celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 10th Setmana Ciclista - Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana 2026, Stage 2 a 115.5km stage from Vila-Real to Vila-Real on February 13, 2026 in Vila-Real, Spain. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images) — Cat Ferguson (Movistar) (Image credit: Getty Images)

Jump to:

How it unfolded
Results

Cat Ferguson (Movistar) has continued an exceptional start to the season with another victory, this time on stage 2 at the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana.

The 19-year-old capitalised on the element of surprise when she launched an attack just ahead of the final chicane inside 600 metres to go and held off the reduced peloton sprinting all the way to the finish line in Vila-Real.

How it unfolded

VILA-REAL, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Katrine Aalerud of Norway and Team Uno-X Mobility, Hannah Ludwig of Germany and Team Cofidis Women compete during the 10th Setmana Ciclista - Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana 2026, Stage 2 a 115.5km stage from Vila-Real to Vila-Real on February 13, 2026 in Vila-Real, Spain. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images) — Stage 2 (Image credit: Getty Images)

The peloton raced 115km in and around Vila-Real for the second day of racing at the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana.

The biggest climbs of the day were held back-to-back over the Alt de Marianet (8.1km at 3.4%), Alt de Eslida (8.2km at 3.9%) and Alt de Aín (5.8km at 3.9%), followed by gently rolling terrain down toward the finish line back in Vila-Real.

Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) launched a solo move before the first climb, the Alt de Marianet and built up just over a minute on the approach to the second ascent of the day, Al de Eslida, but at four minutes down, not a threat to stage 1 winner and overall race leader Vollering.

VILA-REAL, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 13: Lieke Nooijen of Netherlands and Team Visma | Lease a Bike competes in the breakaway during the 10th Setmana Ciclista - Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana 2026, Stage 2 a 115.5km stage from Vila-Real to Vila-Real on February 13, 2026 in Vila-Real, Spain. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images) — Lieke Nooijen on the attack (Image credit: Getty Images)

She took all three mountain primes for a total of 16 points to take the lead in that classification.

After the summit of the Alt de Aín, Nooijen was joined by Talia Appleton (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) and had a 45-second lead on the Vollering group.

The reinforcements helped immensely, bringing the trio's advantage to 1:30 over the peloton. However, with just 20km remaining, and with the major teams pulling the peloton into Vila-Real, their gap was slashed to just 40 seconds.

VILA-REAL, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 13: Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset of Norway and Team Uno-X Mobility competes in the breakaway during the 10th Setmana Ciclista - Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana 2026, Stage 2 a 115.5km stage from Vila-Real to Vila-Real on February 13, 2026 in Vila-Real, Spain. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images) — Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset leads the late attack (Image credit: Getty Images)

Lidl-Trek moved to the front of the field for their sprinter, Elisa Balsamo, who has won seven stages at this event since 2022. The powerful team brought the gap to the breakaway down to just 10 seconds in the last five kilometres, and they were completely reeled back inside three to go.

A crash brought down several riders in the peloton at 1.8km to go, including Balsamo, ending her chances at the sprint, and Vollering was caught behind the accident.

Teams Movistar, Lidl-Trek and Liv Jayco AlUla were still on the front into the last kilometre with Ferguson taking a flyer through the final technical chicane and holding off the chasing field all the way to the line.

Results

Results powered by FirstCycling

Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.

She manages global budgets, racing & events, production scheduling, and contributor commissions, collaborating across content sections and teams in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia to ensure audience and subscription growth across the brand.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

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.