Lieke Nooijen wins 2026 Eneco Tour Women Stage 2 time trial

Lieke Nooijen won Stage 2 of the 2026 Eneco Tour Women, completing the time trial in 16:56. The TVL rider’s advantage was clear at the finish: Nienke Vinke was second, 20 seconds behind, while Sandrine Tas took third at 21 seconds.

The result was defined by Nooijen’s separation from the rest rather than by a close contest for victory. Vinke and Tas were almost level in the fight for the remaining podium places, but Nooijen finished 21 seconds ahead of Tas and 20 seconds clear of Vinke. That was the main line of the race, with the podium contest decided by a single second.

How it unfolded

Nooijen’s 16:56 was the benchmark that shaped the final classification. In a time trial, the finishing order is also the direct measure of the race, and the gap to Vinke shows that Nooijen had a substantial margin over the nearest challenger. There was no comparable split between first and second in the result itself: the leading gap was 20 seconds.

Vinke held second, with Tas only one second further back. That made the battle behind Nooijen much tighter than the contest for the win. Vinke’s final advantage over Tas was narrow enough for third place to remain the closest podium issue, even though Nooijen had already established a much larger winning margin.

Nooijen turns the finish into a clear win

The final figures give Nooijen control of the decisive part of the classification. Her 16:56 was not simply enough for first place by a minimal margin; it put her 20 seconds clear of the rider immediately behind. Against Tas in third, the difference reached 21 seconds, confirming that the win was built on a gap over both podium rivals rather than on a tie at the front.

That distinction matters because the top three split into two separate contests. Nooijen was in front by a margin measured in tens of seconds, while Vinke and Tas were separated by only one. The result therefore gives a clear winner and a finely balanced chase for the other podium places.

Vinke holds off Tas for second

Vinke’s second place was the strongest response to Nooijen’s winning ride, but her margin over Tas was only one second. The SD Worx rider finished at 20 seconds behind the winner, with Tas at 21 seconds, so second place was secured without creating any meaningful distance within the chasing podium group.

Tas’s third place kept her within touching distance of Vinke, while still leaving a 21-second gap to Nooijen. The result separates the riders clearly at the top overall, but it also shows that the difference between second and third was much smaller than the difference between either of them and the winner.

The next battle ends in a tie on time

Femke De Vries and Quinty Ton finished fourth and fifth respectively, both 25 seconds behind Nooijen. Their identical gaps made this the closest contest immediately outside the podium, and both were four seconds short of Tas in third.

Anneke Dijkstra followed in sixth at 28 seconds, three seconds behind De Vries and Ton. Letizia Borghesi was seventh at 31 seconds, while Femke Markus finished eighth at 33 seconds. Those gaps show a compact middle of the top 10, with positions four through eight covered by eight seconds.

Why the winning margin held

Nooijen’s victory came from the size of the gap at the finish: 20 seconds over Vinke and 21 over Tas. The two closest rivals were separated by just one second, so neither could match the winning time while also creating distance from the other. That combination left Nooijen alone at the head of the result and made the podium fight the race’s only close contest.

Silke Smulders and Viktoria Chladonova completed the top 10, both 35 seconds behind Nooijen. The final order therefore places three riders within one second across second and third, two more on the same time in fourth and fifth, and Nooijen clearly ahead of every challenger.

Eneco Tour Women Stage 2 2026 Result