Superb Mara Roldan hangs on to win Tour of Britain Stage 2 as Wiebes and Le Court suffer crashes
Cycling
A solo attack 15km finish has given Mara Roldan and Team Picnic PostNL the victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain. Behind Roldan, Riejanne Markus came second, and third place went to Ally Wollaston of FDJ - Suez.
Earlier in the day, yesterday's stage winner Kim Le Court, wearing the leader's jersey, crashed after just 4km but was able to continue. 31km from the finish line, Tiffany Keep went solo on the first climb of Marske Lane (0.6km at 8.7%). Keep had a gap of 35 seconds to the peloton at that stage, as the main bunch absorbed Lucy Gadd from the break.
At the front of the peloton, Lidl-Trek started to up the tempo. Lizzy Deignan set up an attack by Lidl - Trek's Lauretta Hanson, and gaps started to appear in the peloton. The next attack came from Anna Henderson and Megan Jastrab who briefly managed to open up a small gap. With the attacks, the sole remaining rider in the breakaway, Tiffany Keep, was quickly reigned back in.
Behind the attacks, there was a crash in the peloton and Lorena Wiebes was one of the riders who went down. The peloton was now split into two clear groups, and race leader Kim Le Court, as well Wiebes, was not in the front group having both been impacted by crashes.
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The race descended rapidly into Satlburn-by-the-Sea, with Lizzie Diegnan doing some excellent work on the front of the peloton. Cat Ferguson was also in the front group, and then Anna Henderson made an attack as the race passed through the finish line for the first time for the intermediate sprint. Faulkner ended up taking first and 10 points, ahead of Ferguson, Swinkels and then Henderson.
Behind, Le Court was clearly struggling after her crash, and was 1:00 behind the main group with 16km to go. Back in the front group, it was Team Picnic PostNL who were setting the pace, as the race entered the final 10km. And then a big attack came from Picnic's Mara Roldan, who took maximum points and the QOM jersey on the Markse Lane climb.
Now the question for Mara Roldan was could she hang on to the finish line? The Canadian rider suffered a mechanical on stage 1's finale, and was looking for redemption on stage 2.
Amber Kraak, riding for FDJ - Suez, started pulling the chase. Roldan was pushing hard out in front, grimacing as she pushed hard with every pedal stroke. If she could make it work, it would be her first World Tour win, having made the step up this year.
The next attack came from Ldil - Trek's Riejanne Markus, who was looking to utilise her superb time trialling skills to make up the 15 seconds to Roldan. Compared to the rock and roll style of Roldan, Markus was looking super smooth, and the gap rapidly closed as the Dutch time trial champion pulled the Canadian back.
Things were getting worse for Kim Le Court, who was now 1:20 seconds behind the main group. The question was now which rider she would be hanging the green (leader's) jersey to in Saltburn at the end of the day. Back in the peloton, Movistar Team pulling, maybe with Cat Ferguson dreaming of glory.
So stage 2 of the Tour of Britain would come down to the wire, with Roldan leading, Markus chasing, and the group group only 30 seconds behind. Into the final kilometre, and it was Mara Rolden who hung on to superbly take her first World Tour win.
Stage 3 takes place tomorrow, the penultimate stage of this year's edition, and we will bring you all the action from the Scottish Borders. This will be the first time the women's race has ventured to Scotland, and we have a 148km stage starting and finishing in the centre of Kelso.
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Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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