Lorena Wiebes made it two wins from two at the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women, sprinting to victory in Blackpool after a rain-hit stage that was temporarily neutralised following an incident involving a motorbike on the route.
The SD Worx-Protime rider launched from around 250 metres and was clearly too strong, beating Maggie Coles-Lyster of Human Powered Health and Kimberly Le Court-Pienaar of AG Insurance-Soudal. Nienke Veenhoven finished fourth for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, ahead of Lara Gillespie of UAE Team L’IMAD and Chiara Consonni of Canyon SRAM.
Clara Copponi, Teuntje Beekhuis, Ally Wollaston and Juliana Londoño David completed the top 10 after 110.5 kilometres from Clitheroe to Blackpool. Wiebes also extended her overall race lead to 14 seconds before stage 3 from Mold to The Great Orme.
A wet stage with a sprint finish expected
After Wiebes had won the opening stage in Cockermouth, stage 2 looked like another chance for the fastest riders, even if the route was not completely straightforward.
The stage began in Clitheroe and finished in Blackpool, with the hardest terrain packed into the first half. Waddington Fell, 3.3 kilometres at 6.4 per cent, gave the climbers and attackers an early point of pressure, but the final 70 kilometres were mostly flatter and pointed towards a sprint on the coast.
The conditions made the race more difficult. The opening phase was grey, wet and tense, with riders dealing with rain and slick roads before the stage was later interrupted by the neutralisation.
For the teams hoping to beat Wiebes, the problem was obvious. They needed to make the stage messy enough to prevent SD Worx-Protime controlling it, but the profile still gave the sprinters’ teams plenty of time to reorganise before Blackpool.
Greve attacks before Waddington Fell
The first serious move came after around 20 kilometres, when Alberte Greve of Uno-X Mobility attacked alone.
The Norwegian was not deterred by the poor weather and briefly opened a gap on the peloton, but the race was already heading towards Waddington Fell. Once the climb began, Greve’s move was brought back and the bunch came back together.
That early attack still helped set the tone. Uno-X Mobility were clearly willing to race aggressively, and they were soon on the move again through a more dangerous rider.
Photo Credit: Cor VosAalerud goes clear before the race is stopped
Katrine Aalerud attacked next for Uno-X Mobility and quickly built a lead of around 1 minute. Given her climbing strength and experience, it was a move that could not simply be ignored.
Then the race changed completely. After just over 70 kilometres of racing, the organisation neutralised the stage following an incident involving a motorbike on the course. Aalerud had to stop racing and wait while the situation was managed.
The interruption lasted around half an hour. When the riders restarted, the kilometres towards the intermediate sprint in Whalley were still covered under neutralised conditions before the race was properly released again for the remaining run towards Blackpool.
Aalerud was allowed to restart first with the advantage she had built before the stoppage, but the rhythm of the race had changed. What had been a promising solo move became a visible target for a peloton that still had plenty of flat road to bring everything back.
Georgi and FDJ United-Suez try to stir the race
After the restart, Aalerud’s lead began to fall as the bunch came back up to speed. Several riders tried to use her as a springboard, with FDJ United-Suez active and Pfeiffer Georgi especially busy in the counter-attacks.
Those accelerations helped reduce Aalerud’s advantage quickly. With just over 40 kilometres remaining, her attack was over and the race reset again.
That catch triggered another wave of moves. The peloton was not content simply to hand the stage to Wiebes, and the wet conditions made it tempting for attackers to try to exploit hesitation among the sprint teams.
But the bunch remained disciplined enough. Moves came and went, yet none immediately gained the kind of advantage needed to threaten the expected sprint.
Gissinger makes the strongest late move
The one rider who did build a meaningful gap was Oda Aune Gissinger of Hitec Products-Fluid Control.
Gissinger attacked after Aalerud had been caught and managed to open a solo advantage as the race moved towards Blackpool. It was a brave move in difficult conditions, with the peloton still balancing chase responsibility between UAE Team L’IMAD, Liv AlUla Jayco, FDJ United-Suez and SD Worx-Protime.
For a while, Gissinger forced the sprinters’ teams to work. The wide roads into Blackpool meant the chase could organise, but the weather and earlier neutralisation had already made the stage feel less predictable than a standard flat finish.
Her move lasted deep into the finale before the bunch finally closed her down with 4 kilometres remaining.
UAE lead into the final kilometres
Once Gissinger was caught, the sprint trains began to form. UAE Team L’IMAD led the peloton into the final kilometres, with Liv AlUla Jayco, FDJ United-Suez and SD Worx-Protime all trying to hold position on the wide, exposed roads.
The finale was not entirely clean for Wiebes. She was slightly boxed in under the 1 kilometre to go banner and had to wait for the space to open rather than launching from a perfect lead-out.
That made the sprint more interesting, but only briefly. Wiebes had enough patience to hold position, then enough acceleration to settle the stage the moment she found the gap.
Wiebes launches from 250 metres
Wiebes opened her sprint from around 250 metres and immediately created separation.
Coles-Lyster finished second for Human Powered Health, a strong result after staying well positioned through the wet finale. Le Court-Pienaar took third for AG Insurance-Soudal, continuing her run of strong finishes in hard races.
Veenhoven was fourth, with Gillespie fifth and Consonni sixth. Copponi, Beekhuis, Wollaston and Londoño David completed the top 10.
The result underlined Wiebes’ current level. Even after a neutralised race, late solo attacks, wet roads and a less than perfect position inside the final kilometre, she was still able to launch long and win without being properly challenged.
It was her ninth career stage win at the Tour of Britain Women.
Wiebes tightens her grip on the race
With bonus seconds from the stage win, Wiebes extended her overall lead to 14 seconds.
That matters because the race now becomes more difficult. Stage 3 from Mold to The Great Orme is a very different test, and the final climb will give the puncheurs and climbers a much better chance to challenge the sprinter-led hierarchy.
Wiebes has done everything possible from the opening two days. She has won in Cockermouth, won again in Blackpool, and given SD Worx-Protime a commanding start to the race.
The question now is whether that lead can survive the hillier terrain still to come.
Coles-Lyster and Le Court-Pienaar take strong podiums
Behind Wiebes, Coles-Lyster’s second place was an important result for Human Powered Health. She positioned well through the final kilometres and was best of the rest once Wiebes opened her sprint.
Le Court-Pienaar’s third place kept AG Insurance-Soudal close to the front of the race after she had already been active on stage 1. She remains a rider who can score in difficult sprint finishes, especially when the race is too wet, nervous or selective for a completely straightforward bunch gallop.
Veenhoven’s fourth place also gave Team Visma | Lease a Bike a solid result after the disappointment of losing Lieke Nooijen to a crash on stage 1. Gillespie’s fifth maintained UAE Team L’IMAD’s consistent presence near the front across the opening two stages.
A strange day, but a familiar winner
Stage 2 was not a normal sprint stage. The rain made the roads uncomfortable, Greve and Aalerud gave Uno-X Mobility early attacking presence, the race was stopped for around half an hour after the motorbike incident, and Gissinger forced the peloton to chase into the final 4 kilometres.
Yet the outcome was familiar. Wiebes survived the complications, found a gap when she needed one and delivered a sprint that nobody else could match.
That is what makes her so difficult to beat in these races. Teams can attack, disrupt and make the day hard, but if she is still in the front group inside the final kilometre, the margin for everyone else is tiny.
Blackpool confirmed the same lesson as Cockermouth. The race can be chaotic around Wiebes, but once the sprint opens, she remains the clearest reference point in the peloton.
Lloyds Tour of Britain Women 2026 stage 2 result
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
