The Italian champion broke away from her companions Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon – SRAM) and Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx – ProTime) on the final climb, nine kilometres from the finish, and won solo in Locarno after 105.6 kilometres. Second place, 30 seconds behind, went to the Canadian Sarah van Dam (Visma – Lease a Bike). 17 seconds later, Häberlin won the sprint for third place ahead of Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Niewiadoma. D
The main reason van Dam took second place was that Reusser and Niewiadoma took a wrong turn shortly before the finish, whilst van Dam stayed on course and overtook them both.
“The final section was quite twisty. I’d had a last-minute look at it before the start and, fortunately, spotted the situation in the race in good time. But I feel sorry for those two,” said van Dam afterwards on “Eurosport”.
Race leader Femke De Vries (Visma – Lease a Bike) fell behind in the final stage and had to relinquish the yellow jersey.
Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse Women – Results
Here’s how Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse Women went:
It took around 50 kilometres for a leading group to break away from the peloton. The duo of Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health) and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek) subsequently built up a lead of around two minutes. Shortly before that, Femke De Vries (Visma – Lease a Bike), wearing the yellow jersey, took a tumble but was able to continue the race quickly.
Vanpachtenbeke won the bonus sprint, which took place 45 kilometres from the finish, unchallenged from the leading group, whilst in the peloton Lauren Dickson (FDJ United – Suez) secured a second by finishing third.
Josie Talbot (Liv – AlUla – Jayco) then launched an attack from the peloton to catch up with the two leaders. However, she was reeled back in 25 kilometres before the finish. This was followed by the climbs to Fanghi (Category 3) and Via Consiglio Mezzano (Category 3). On the first climb, the peloton caught up with the two breakaway riders 20 kilometres from the finish, whilst more and more riders were forced to drop back.
A group of around 20 riders eventually formed. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) was the first rider from the group to attack and won the mountain classification after Fanghi. De Vries, her team-mate Sarah van Dam, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ), Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx ProTime) crossed the summit with her.
On the descent, Häberlin, Niewiadoma and Longo Borghini broke away from the group – De Fries was unable to keep up. The trio reached the short but steep ramp leading to Via Consiglio Mezzano together, with a gradient of around nine per cent. There, Longo Borghini pulled away from her two companions. She reached the mountain classification with a 15-second lead and even extended her lead over the chasing pack in the final kilometres to the finish.
