In the second stage of La Vuelta Femenina, Shari Bossuyt was victorious, winning the stage from a reduced bunch of riders. The AG Insurance-Soudal rider outsprinted Franziska Koch of FDJ United-Suez, who moved into the race lead after stage 1 winner Noemi Rüegg crashed with 12 km to go. Unfortunately, the EF Education-Oatly rider was not able to finish the stage.
Évita Muzic, Koch's teammate, sprinted to third ahead of Letizia Paternoster of Liv AlUla Jayco.
Koch leads the race going into the third stage with six seconds over Bossuyt and 10 seconds on Lotte Kopecky.
Brief stage results
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90149 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
GC after stage 2
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90149 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- The first half of the stage was fast, but with limited attacks. It wasn't until 66 km to go that a breakaway of five formed. They would remain off the front until 27 km to go, when the last riders from the move were scooped up by the peloton.
- Lidl-Trek was the first team to go on the attack as the finish got closer. Koch responded, and the FDJ United-Suez rider stretched out the peloton enough that a selection of six riders snuck off the front.
- They were caught before they got much of a gap, but the move itself alerted the teams to the possibility of more attacks. With 14 km to go, Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) went on the attack and was able to build a minute advantage over the peloton.
Aalerud's attack.
- Unfortunately, with 12 km to go, the race leader Rüegg and Eleonora Ciabocco (Picnic PostNL), who led the Youth Classification, went down in a crash. Neither rider was able to get back on their bike immediately, and it was announced soon after that Rüegg would not continue the Vuelta.
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