On the second and final run up the Corkscrew climb, Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) found herself outnumbered in a battle for not only the stage victory but more importantly the overall title at the Women’s Tour Down Under 2026.
The defending champion was surrounded by three UAE Team ADQ teammates in Mavi García, Dominika Włodarczyk and Paula Blasi, and though her odds didn’t look good on paper, Rüegg never panicked and responded to every attack thrown at her.
"I knew they they're going to attack me one by one. That was their only possibility to beat me," Rüegg told reporters in Campbelltown after the podium presentation.
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But the Swiss rider also understood that, weirdly, the group composition, combined with a dangerous chase group behind them, was actually a scenario in her favour.
"I knew they wouldn't stop working, because then they would also lose their GC so I just knew I had to follow their attacks and I could trust my acceleration. And in the end, it was the perfect scenario. I think maybe if there were other riders from other teams, then it would cause a bit more chaos."
The terrain, which was downhill towards the finish line also aided her cause.
"It's only like five kilometres to go [after the top of the final climb] and it's mostly downhill so the speed was really high and I could always make a lot of use of the slipstream. I think it would have been different if it would have been like a flat or even a climb. That would have made it a lot harder for me," Rüegg said. "Follow the attack by attack. Didn't think too far ahead. And then it worked out.
"I knew if I got into the last 500 metres with them, then nothing can happen anymore. But I didn't want to believe it too early. But yeah, it's crazy."
The four riders flew towards the finish line together, where Rüegg edged out a sprinting Blasi to take the victory and the overall title for the second year in a row.
Going into the final stage, Rüegg sat third on GC, 17 seconds behind overnight leader Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez), but crucially seven seconds ahead of the UAE trio. With a ten-second bonus available for the stage winner, the pressure was high. That tension only increased when Włodarczyk and García picked up bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints, two for Włodarczyk and one for García.
"We came into the race with the ambition to defend the GC and try and go for a stage win as well. I knew I was in great form but I still hesitated a bit. I wasn't sure how well I would actually do. But the team believed in me so much, and we had a plan every day that we committed to and everyone was just so committed and trusted in me."
But the plan looked to be going sideways when Rüegg was not able to follow a move from Włodarczyk, Garcia, Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike) and her teammate, world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, the first time up the Corkscrew.
Seeing her teammate was in trouble, Vallieres dropped back and led the chase to reel in the now three riders off the front.
Rüegg admitted that she was "a little bit" worried at that point.
"I didn't know how well I would get over the first time and I saw Mags, she was following the leaders. She was feeling great as well so I felt a bit bad that she had to drop back and wait for me, because I thought maybe it's better if she goes for the stage win or GC as well. But she was super committed. She pulled like crazy to bring me back."
Given that struggle on the first ascent there was some concern about the next but Rüegg added that, "once you're back in the battle for the GC, then you can unlock some more power. And that's what's happened."
Inside of six kilometres to go, as they crested the final climb, Rüegg was now in the lead group with the UAE trio of Garcia, Włodarczyk and Blasi, where she covered every attack before taking the win.
“You don't win a WorldTour stage race every day, so you have to enjoy this and I owe a lot to the girls as well. So I told them, dinner and drinks is on me tonight."
After a celebration, team EF Education-Oatly will race the Vanguard Women's One Day Race, later heading to Victoria for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
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