Mara Roldan pulled off a successful late breakaway on the steep approach to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, winning the second stage of the Tour of Britain Women by 12 seconds.
The 21-year-old, who hails from Canada’s Yukon territory, made a push for victory with 14km to go and held on to win ahead of Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek). British teenager Cat Ferguson (Movistar) finished fifth for the second stage in a row, just behind third-placed Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Roldan’s Picnic-Post NL teammate, Megan Jastrab.
Also in the chasing group was Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly), who finished ninth but did enough to take the overall leader’s green jersey. Faulkner, the Olympic road race champion in Paris, leads a frustrated Markus by just four seconds. Ferguson is fourth behind Wollaston, 14 seconds off Faulkner’s mark, with two stages to go.
“My team was really good in the first half of the race, just keeping me safe at the front. Once the circuit came, it was just a race of attrition,” Faulkner said after the race, which included two climbs up Saltburn Bank before the finish line.
The day began at Hartlepool docks in wet conditions, with stage one winner and overall leader Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) falling early on, and then getting caught on the wrong side of a peloton split caused by Lorena Wiebes’ crash. Le Court sits 21st overall after stage two, while the two-times former winner, Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) is down in 16th place.
“We dropped some of the GC leaders, which was great, and it allowed me to finish with the jersey,” Alaska native Faulkner added. “I think a lot of people were really fighting to stay in the race. I felt really good on the last climb, both times up it.”
Stage three on Saturday will start and end in Kelso as riders take a circuitous 148.7km route through the Scottish Borders. The race concludes with a 10-lap circuit around Glasgow city centre on Sunday.
