2026 Tour Down Under Women Stage 2 Results & Recap
Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour Down Under Women is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Wollaston Doubles at Paracombe\nBy Clara Beard
Kiwi Ally Wollaston made it two from two at the Santos Tour Down Under today, winning Stage 2 from Magill to Paracombe after a brutal, attritional day in the Adelaide Hills and extending her overall lead.
The FDJ–Suez rider powered through a selective finale to take the stage in a reduced bunch sprint, edging Noemi Rüegg (EF Education–Oatly) and Josie Nelson (Team Picnic PostNL) after a late breakaway was reeled in inside the final kilometre. Wollaston’s victory also came with 14 bonus seconds, strengthening her hold on the ochre leader’s jersey.
The 130.7km stage was raced aggressively from the outset in rising temperatures, with multiple early attacks before Wilma Aintila (Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto) established a long solo move. The 21-year-old Finn spent more than 20 kilometres off the front, collecting points at the first intermediate sprint and animating the race before being brought back as the peloton ramped up the pace approaching the climbs.
UAE Team ADQ and FDJ–Suez were prominent throughout the middle phase of the stage, while the hills steadily thinned the bunch. Paula Blasi Cairol (UAE Team ADQ) emerged as one of the strongest climbers on the day, claiming maximum points on the final categorized ascent to secure the queen of the mountains jersey.
With under 10 kilometres to go, a dangerous late move formed featuring Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto), Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike), Mireia Benito Pellicer (AG Insurance–Soudal) and others, opening a gap of up to 17 seconds. The break flew through the descents at high speed, but hesitation in the final kilometres proved costly as EF Education–Oatly and FDJ–Suez drove the chase.
Attacks continued inside the final three kilometres, with Van Dam and Dygert both trying to go clear, but the peloton regrouped just before the flamme rouge. EF Education–Oatly led out the sprint, setting up Rüegg, but Wollaston timed her effort perfectly to surge past and claim back-to-back stage wins, collapsing at the finish after an exhausting effort.
Wollaston now leads the general classification by 14 seconds over Nelson, with Rüegg a further three seconds back. Olivia Baril (Movistar) and Marta Lach (SD Worx–Protime) remain within half a minute as the race heads toward its final stage.
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