After a chaotic finale, Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale) won stage 2 of the Vuelta Femenina 2024. The winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023 relegated Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx - Protime) and Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) to second and third place in the sprint. Vas, who finished second on the day, also took over the overall lead from Gaia Realini, who had won the team time trial on stage 1 with Lidl-Trek.
Previously, there had been several crashes on the slippery road in the finale of stage 2. German champion Liane Lippert (Movistar) also went down in a roundabout on the last three kilometres.
Alison Jackson on her victory on stage 2 of the Vuelta Femenina 2024
"My team-mates protected me perfectly from the start to the finish. I was also able to stay out of the crashes. Kristen (Faulkner) took off with 500 metres to go. She was so strong that nobody could pass her. I was able to time my sprint perfectly and take the win," explained the winner Alison Jackson in the official interview.
Vuelta Femenina 2024 results: The top 10 of stage 2
- Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale) 2:51:03
- Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:00
- Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) +0:00
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) +0:00
- Ingvild Gaskjenn (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:00
- Giorgia Vettorello (Roland) +0:00
- Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:00
- Flora Perkins (Fenix-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez) +0:00
- Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale) +0:00
The top 10 in the overall standings
- Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx - Protime) 3:10:14
- Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale) +0:08
- Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) +0:09
- Eva van Agt (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:09
- Sophie von Berswordt (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:09
- Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:09
- Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:09
- Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) +0:09
- Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) +0:09
- Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek) +0:09
How the 2nd stage of the 2024 Women's Vuelta went
The second section was characterised by numerous crashes. Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) was one of those who fell in the first few kilometres. However, the Italian was able to continue the race. After several breakaway attempts, the group of the day formed: first Idoia Eraso (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi), Angela Oro (Bepink-Bongioanni) and Marine Allione (Winspace) broke away from the peloton. A little later, the trio was joined by Silvia Zanardi (Human Powered Health), Valerie Demey (Volkerwessels) and Audrey de Keersmaeker (Lotto-Dstny). Behind them, two more riders, Lourdes Oyarbide (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) and Andrea Casagranda (Bepink-Bongioanni), set off in pursuit. However, they were unable to close the gap to the front and the duo were caught by the peloton after just over 30 kilometres.
Six female riders at the top
The six leaders extended their lead over the peloton to a maximum of around three minutes. When the Puerto de l'Oronet, a category 3 climb, the only major topographical obstacle of the day came into view, the race became faster and the breakaway's lead quickly diminished in rainy conditions.
Oro was the first rider to drop back into the peloton, before her five escape companions were also caught shortly afterwards. Visma | Lease a Bike set a high pace on the climb, so that many riders - including fast sprinters like Charlotte Kool (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) - lost the connection. At the crest of the Puerto de l'Oronet, there were only 45 riders left in the peloton. There, Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) secured six points for the mountain classification and took the lead in the special classification.
Blanka Vas secures time credit
In the finale, Anneke Dijkstra (Volkerwessels) tried to break away from the peloton. The Dutchwoman also secured a six-second time bonus at the intermediate sprint ahead of Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx - Protime/4-second bonus) and Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez/2-second bonus), but was caught shortly afterwards.
In light rain and wet roads, things got hectic again in the finale. Just under the three-kilometre mark, there was a crash involving Elizabeth Deignan (Lidl-Trek), Mischa Bredewold, Niamh Fisher-Black (both Team SD-Worx - Protime) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike), among others.
Liane Lippert crashes into roundabout
Shortly afterwards, there was another crash. At a roundabout, Liane Lippert (Movistar) slid off in second position, and around ten other riders also crashed. Lippert's team-mate Jelena Eric benefited from this because she was first through the roundabout and did not crash. However, the Serbian champion was caught again by her pursuers and a larger group sprinted away. Kristen Faulkner took the lead from Alison Jackson in exemplary fashion. And the Canadian champion took her next big win after her triumph at Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023.
