Mara Roldan (Picnic-PostNL) won stage two of the Tour of Britain Women, outclimbing Rejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) on Saltburn Bank to take her first WorldTour victory, as Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) claimed the race lead.
After Charlotte Kool ramped up the pace in the small lead group, the young Canadian attacked as the leaders began the finishing circuit near Saltburn-by-the-Sea for the second and final time.
It was touch and go as the final ramp to the finish arrived, but Roldan held on to seal the win for Picnic-PostNL. Markus took second with Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) claiming third.
Behind the leaders, Megan Jastrab (Picnic PostNL) led the remnants of the chase group across the line, with Cat Ferguson finishing in fifth which saw her move up to fourth in the general classification. Ferguson is now just 14 seconds off Faulkner's lead with two stages remaining.
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage two took the race from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea in north east England. The riders faced 1,348 metres of elevation gain on the 120 kilometre route, with the Saltburn Bank climb, a stalwart of several recent editions of the British national championships, featuring late on towards the finish.
After her heroics on stage one into Redcar, race leader Kim Le Court was brought down in an early crash, along with several other riders. Great Britain's Jess Roberts was also involved. Le Court managed to get back into the peloton before several riders began to up the tempo.
Three riders managed to get away and formed an early breakaway - Lucy Gadd (Smurfit Westrock, Maddy Leach (Handsling Alba Development) and Tiffany Keep (DAS-Hutchinson). The trio quickly established a lead of more than three minutes and held that for much of the day.
With 33 kilometres to go, the leaders were onto the finishing circuit around Saltburn. Leach was the first rider to drop away as Tiffany Keep pushed on as the road began to ramp up on the categorised Marske Lane climb. The South African rider had a lead of just 39 seconds as she crested the summit, taking maximum points on the first Queen of the Mountains point of the day. She was then caught a few kilometres later.
On the descent of Marske Lane, four riders came down, including Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime). Lidl-Trek's Anna Henderson jumped clear in a brief skirmish off the front as the race began to fracture. Le Court was one of the riders affected by the split as around 25 riders went clear.
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Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) took the lead group onto Saltburn Bank for the first time, upping the tempo before Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) got onto the front with Cat Ferguson (Movistar) in her wheel.
Picnic-PostNL moved to the front of the lead group and immediately jumped on the offensive. Mara Roldan launched a stinging attack on Marske Lane and went clear over the summit. With 11 kilometres left to go, the young Canadian tore into the descent and opened up a small gap as the remnants of the front group tried to get organised and reignite the chase.
Despite having just a handful of seconds on the chasing pack, Roldan held on up Saltburn Bank to take a memorable stage win, her first at WorldTour level, for Picnic-PostNL.
Results
Tour of Britain Women 2025, stage two: Hartlepool > Saltburn-by-the-Sea (120 km)
1. Mara Roldan (Can) Picnic-PostNL in 2:57:38 2. Rejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +12s 3. Ally Wollaston (Aus) FDJ-Suez, +18s 4. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL, 5. Cat Ferguson (GBR) Movistar, 6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ, 7. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto 8. Sarah van Dam (Can) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling, 9. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, all same time 10. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, +22s
General classification after stage two
1. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, in 4:57:03 2. Rejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +4s 3. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ-Suez +12s 4. Cat Ferguson (GBr) Movistar, +14s 5. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ, at same time 6. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL, +16s 7. Sarah van Dam (Can) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling, 8. Cecille Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto, at same time 9. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, +20s 10. Anna Henderson (Gbr) Lidl-Trek, at same time
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After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.
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