Linda Zanetti delivered a storming ride on the uphill cobbled finish in Chełm to win stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne Women, outsprinting French champion Marie Le Net and UAE Team ADQ’s Sofia Bertizzolo. Stage 1 winner Chiara Consonni finished eighth but retained both the ORLEN General Classification and LOTTO Active Rider Classification leads, holding a five-second advantage over Zanetti.
The 99.5km stage began under warm skies in Chełm, with the peloton rolling out for a loop that took them through the gently undulating roads of the Lublin region. The early part of the day was marked by constant movement – the first real break came when Belgian rider Cleo Kiekens attacked shortly after the flag dropped. She quickly built a lead of just over a minute, but the bunch kept her within range and brought her back before the halfway point.
Once Kiekens was caught, the pattern of attack and chase continued. Sabrina Stultiens of VolkerWessels made her move, testing the peloton’s reaction, and was soon joined in the action by Babette van der Wolf of EF Education-EasyPost. Neither could break the grip of the sprint-focused teams, who kept the pace high to set up the LOTTO Sprint Prime in Gmina Chełm after 67km. Consonni, already in yellow, proved the fastest there, collecting maximum points and three bonus seconds to strengthen her GC position.
The sprint sparked another flurry of aggression. UAE Team ADQ were particularly active, repeatedly sending riders forward to keep the pace sharp and disrupt the sprinters’ rhythm. Their efforts eventually led to a dangerous group of around a dozen riders edging clear. The gap hovered at around 20 seconds before UAE’s Francesca Pellegrini launched a solo move from that group with roughly 15km remaining.
Pellegrini’s attack looked promising – her advantage quickly grew to 40 seconds as the chasers hesitated – but once the peloton reorganised, the time gap began to fall. Lidl-Trek, Canyon SRAM zondacrypto, Uno-X Mobility and FDJ-Suez all joined in the chase, and Pellegrini was finally caught inside the last three kilometres as the peloton hit the approach to Chełm’s old town.
The finale was a short, punishing cobbled climb that began with a left-hand turn onto the narrow street. Uno-X Mobility’s lead-out kept Zanetti perfectly placed in the top three through the 500-metre ramp, while Le Net and Bertizzolo each shadowed her wheel. Consonni, further back after losing ground in the squeeze onto the cobbles, was boxed in and unable to launch her sprint in time.
Zanetti kicked with around 200 metres to go, her acceleration immediately opening daylight to her rivals. Le Net closed slightly but never threatened to come past, while Bertizzolo held off a charging second row to secure third. Dominika Włodarczyk added a sixth place for UAE, with Kaja Rysz tenth.
Zanetti’s win, combined with the 10-second time bonus, moved her into second overall, just five seconds behind Consonni. Le Net sits third at 10 seconds, leaving the general classification delicately balanced ahead of the race’s toughest and final stage.
2025 Tour de Pologne Women Stage 2 result
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