Italy's Rossella Ratto (Estado de Mexico-Faren) is the new race leader of the Friend's Life Women's Tour in Britain after beating fellow Italian Susanna Zorzi (Astana) in Bedford, after an aggressive ride in the rain.

Ratto went on the attack alone after the first climb of the 118km stage. She was joined by Zorzi in the finale and the two worked together to hold off the chasing peloton. Marianne Vos (Rabobank Liv) finished third, bringing home the peloton six seconds after the Italian pair. However, that was enough for Ratto to pull on the bight yellow race leader's jersey instead of stage one winner Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS). She also took the best young rider's jersey, while Vos took the lead in the points competition and Sharon Laws (UnitedHealthcare) kept her lead in the climber's competition.

How it happened

Despite the stage from Hinckley to Bedford being the longest of the race, at 118.5km, and held under pouring rain, there were plenty of early attacks as the riders were cheered by the crowds on the road side.

Silvia Valsecchi (Astana-BePink) was the first get a gap and carved out close to minute early on, but she was gradually reeled in as the sprinters targeted the first sprint after 32.4km. Valsecchi managed to snatch the sprint but was soon caught as the climbers chased down attacks before the first QOM at Kilworth. Ciara Horne (Great Britain) attacked on the climb to reach the top first but Sharon Laws (UnitedHealthcare) was just behind her to take second and extend her lead in the climber's competition.

The narrow lanes and wet roads suited brave attacks and after the first major climb, Ratto made her move. She quickly opened a gap of a minute. Her lead rose and fell but Ratto stayed away despite a concerted chase. The gap was down to just 25 seconds after 85km of racing and this is when Zorzi made her move. She surged clear of the peloton and quickly crossed to Ratto. They formed an efficient duo up front and opened a gap of a minute.

The gap reached two minutes with 20km to go and Ratto lead Zorzi through the second sprint after 101km, with Armitstead beating Vos to take third place.

Armitstead's Boels-Dolmans team lead the chase, with several crashes causing problems. Emma Pooley (Lotto Belisol) went down in one spill but got back up and back into the peloton.

Up front Ratto and Zorzi had a 45-secod lead with five kilometres to go but it fell to 30 seconds at three kilometres and 25 seconds with one kilometre to the finish. However they just managed stayed clear and Ratto was the strongest, winning the two-rider sprint by a bike length.

It was her biggest result since finishing third in the world road race championships in Florence last year.

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