Josie Nelson may not have been among the riders who would have obviously jumped off the start list as a potential contender at the Santos Women's Tour Down Under in 2026, but now the Picnic PostNL rider from Great Britain is heading into the final day of racing in second place overall.
First she delivered a rapid acceleration on stage 1 to take second place and then on stage 2 held firm through the heat and 2411m of elevation gain on stage 2 to claim third
In the process, she has made it a scorching start to the 2026 season, no matter what happens next for the 23-year-old who last year found her way onto a Tour of Britain and Giro d'Italia stage podium..
"I worked hard over the winter to target this race as the leader, and looking at the course, we knew coming into it that it suited me well – these finishes – so it's just been nice to actually be able to get the results," Nelson told Cyclingnews after taking her second Women's WorldTour top-three result in as many days.
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It wasn't exactly easy going, and there were certainly some tense moments for those riders who were hoping the stage would end with a bunch dash. With the stage barely underway before riders were onto the climb of Norton Summit, that was just the beginning of the action, fuelled all day by constantly rolling terrain. The final move of five was then only pulled in within the last kilometre. Still, for Nelson it was a case of keeping her cool even as the temperatures rose to the mid-30's.
"It was just about being patient, seeing how the race panned out, and just keeping fueled," said Nelson. "It was really hot today, and it was a hard stage so it was tiring, but just trying to save as much energy as possible for the finish."
There was no overpowering Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-SUEZ) or defending champion Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) but Nelson once again worked her way out of the charging bunch and delivered a fierce turn of pace to secure a stage podium place with third. It was also enough to keep her in second place in the overall rankings as the race heads into the third and final stage.
Nelson is 14 second back from GC leader Wollaston while Rüegg sits back 17 seconds and there are also another 24 riders within 24 seconds of the race lead, which will ultimately be decided on a day that delivers two steep ascents of the Corkscrew Rd climb within the final 30km of racing.
Nelson, like Wollaston, is a sprinter, even though the last two days have been a reminder that she has considerable capabilities whenever the roads steepen, particularly after honing the climbing form over winter in Spain. Still, the question remains: will Monday's finale be a bridge too far?
"I'll try and hold on for as long as I can," said Nelson. "Obviously, tomorrow is going to be the GC deciding day, and they're just going to gas it up the climb so we'll just hope that the climbing I've been doing over winter is enough."
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