V-SERIES Women's Tour: Leah Dixon wins stage 2

Leah Dixon (TIBCO-SVB) won the second stage at the SKODA V-SERIES Women's Tour taking the win on the Burton Dassett climb ahead of her teammate Lauren Stephens. Elizabeth Holden (Bizkaia Durango) led in the chase group for third place.

The second stage of the V-SERIES Women’s Tour offered a 35.7km race to the virtual Burton Dassett in Warwickshire, where the participants tackled the 1.7km ascent three times.

Dani Christmas (Lotto Soudal) started the stage in the leader’s jersey after winning stage 1 from a sprint ahead of Illi Gardner (CAMS Tifosi) and Amelia Sharpe (Team Breeze).

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The first climb over Burton Dassett saw the peloton shatter into small groups with Lauren Stephens (TIBCO-SVB) leading the way followed by Illi Gardner (CAM Tifosi) and Lizzy Banks (Bigla-Katusha). 

Over the top and on the descent, however, a lead group formed of 10 riders with Katie Scott (CAMS Tifosi), Kristen Faulkner (TIBCO-SVB), Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally), Elizabeth Holden (Bizkaia Durango), Lucy van der Haar (Hitec Products Birk Sport), Leah Dixon (TIBCO-SVB) and Sarah Storey (Storey Racing). Christmas was caught off the back and raced in the second group.

Stephens attacked on the second time up Burton Dassett, pushing 7w/kg and gained 40 metres on the small front group. Her teammate Dixon jumped at over 8w/kg and closed the gap to Stephens. The pair worked together over the top of the climb and built a 140-metre lead over four chasers Bigla-Katusha’s Banks and TIBCO-SVB’s Faulkner, Bizkaia Durango’s Holden, and CAMS Tifosi’s Gardner.

Stephens and Dixon started the third and final climb up Burton Dassett together at 250 metres ahead of the chase group. Stephens pulled away from Dixon at the bottom of the climb but they regrouped half way up. Dixon put in higher power with 800 metres to go to gain 10 metres on Stephens. Both riders pushed more than 7w/kg on the way to the finish but Dixon gained upwards of 90 metres at the finish line to take the stage win. Holden crossed the line in third place.

The V-SERIES Women’s Tour is held on the RGT Cycling virtual platform in support of Breast Cancer Now and Mind. 

The new SKODA V-SERIES Women's Tour will be streamed live on Cyclingnews. The three-stage virtual event takes place from June 17-19, with the racing starting daily at 2 p.m. EDT / 7 p.m. BST. Join us for the third and final stage on Friday.

V-SERIES Women's Tour stage 2 - replay