“I was just hanging on” - Shari Bossuyt stuns with late surge on chaotic, crash-marred stage 2 at La Vuelta Femenina 2026
Cycling
Shari Bossuyt was not the rider expected to win Stage 2 of La Vuelta Femenina 2026. Not on a day that fractured the race, and not from the position she found herself in approaching the final kilometre. Yet in San Cibrao das Viñas, she timed it perfectly.
“This victory means a lot to me. I was not expecting to pull this off, and especially not today,” she said afterwards. “At the final kilometre, I was just hanging on.”
A stage that stripped the race down
The second stage never settled. An uphill start and constant pressure kept the pace high, with no real opportunity for the peloton to reset.
By the final phase, that effort had reduced the group to its strongest riders. Bossuyt was still there, but only just. “I tried to move up, but it was not possible because of the high pace and I was quite far off the back,” she explained.
Chaos reshapes the finale
The stage shifted again in the closing kilometres. Race leader Noemi Ruegg crashed and was forced to abandon, removing the red jersey and opening the general classification in an instant. At the same time, the reduced group heading to the finish remained tightly packed, with no clear control.
Bossuyt’s opportunity came just after the climb. “And then on the downhill ahead of the finish I came with a lot of speed out of the corner and just went for my sprint,” she said. “We had a plan for me to fight in the sprint, but it depended a lot on what happened on the climb in the final five kilometres. I managed to hold on and then finish it off.”
In a finale shaped by hesitation and fatigue, that move proved decisive.
A win taken, not controlled
Behind her, others had arrived with clearer expectations. Lotte Kopecky was in position before her sprint faltered, while several general classification contenders focused on limiting losses after the disruption earlier in the finale.
Bossuyt’s win came from a different place. Not from control, but from recognising the moment when it opened. On a stage defined by chaos, the rider who was “just hanging on” was the one who finished it.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment