Lorena Wiebes made it back-to-back wins at the 2026 Tour de France Femmes, sprinting to victory in Geneva after Riejanne Markus was caught just 500 metres from the finish.
The SD Worx-Protime rider launched with around 250 metres to go and beat Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek and Marianne Vos of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, with Shari Bossuyt fourth for AG Insurance-Soudal. Wiebes also retained the yellow jersey after another controlled but demanding day on Swiss roads.
Markus had threatened to upset the sprinters with a powerful solo move from the final 40 kilometres, but SD Worx-Protime committed fully to the chase and brought her back within sight of the line after a tense finale along Lake Geneva.
A hilly stage with a sprint finish waiting
Stage 2 took the riders 147.9 kilometres from Aigle to Geneva, leaving the UCI’s home town before following the north side of Lake Geneva through a rolling and tactical stage.
The profile included 1,800 metres of climbing and five categorised climbs, but the final 40 kilometres were broadly favourable to the sprinters’ teams. That made the day a clear test of control for SD Worx-Protime: keep Wiebes safe through the hills, chase down the attacks, then deliver the yellow jersey to another sprint.
Wiebes began the stage with yellow after her uphill win in Lausanne, while Idoia Eraso wore the green jersey on her behalf, Océane Mahé started in polka dots and Paula Blasi wore the white jersey for UAE Team L’IMAD.
There were also early losses. Laura Tomasi had abandoned after stage 1, Alison Avoine had finished outside the time limit, while Brodie Chapman did not start due to illness and Christina Schweinberger was also out after breaking her wrist in the opening stage crash.
Attacks fly before the break forms
The opening part of the stage was aggressive, with repeated attacks but no move immediately allowed to go. The invited teams wanted representation up the road, while the bigger squads were careful not to let the wrong combination escape before the day’s climbs.
The race stayed together through the early kilometres, with Uno-X Mobility helping keep the peloton under control as the road began to rise. Cédrine Kerbaol took the first QOM points over the Côte de Chexbres, ahead of Puck Pieterse and Sara Casasola, giving an early sign that the mountains jersey could become a real secondary battle.
Marion Bunel was first over the Côte de Savigny, with Maëva Squiban second, while Mahé, who had taken polka dots on stage 1, was briefly distanced on the climbs before later returning to the bunch.
After almost 55 kilometres of racing, the break finally formed. Eline Jansen of VolkerWessels, Yuliia Biriukova of Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi and Carlota Cipressi of Human Powered Health attacked, before Ema Comte of Cofidis and Anouska Koster of Uno-X Mobility bridged across.
Biriukova takes the intermediate sprint
The five-rider move built a lead that stretched close to 3 minutes, giving the stage a clear shape before the intermediate sprint in Lavigny.
Biriukova was first across the line, followed by Jansen, Cipressi, Comte and Koster. Behind them, Wiebes was alert to the points classification and led the peloton across for sixth, taking 11 points. Even in yellow, she was already thinking beyond the stage win.
That sprint confirmed the dual purpose of SD Worx-Protime’s day. They wanted the stage, but they also wanted to keep collecting wherever possible. Wiebes had won stage 1, led the race overall and already had a clear points-classification pathway if she continued finishing high.
The break still had a useful lead after the sprint, but the hardest climbs were coming.
Koster and Comte fight for the climbs
The day’s QOM battle sharpened on the Côte de Cossonay, Côte de Bougy-Villars and Côte de Mont-sur-Rolle.
Comte beat Koster at the top of the Côte de Cossonay, while Koster then took maximum points on the Côte de Bougy-Villars and Côte de Mont-sur-Rolle. The Uno-X rider moved herself close in the mountains classification, but Mahé had done enough from stage 1 to keep the polka-dot jersey for another day.
The climbs also changed the composition of the race. The peloton split into several groups, Consonni was among the riders distanced, and SD Worx-Protime began to take a more active role once the bunch was reduced.
On the Côte de Bougy-Villars, Lotte Kopecky started pulling for SD Worx-Protime with around 30 riders left in the main peloton. Movistar and Team Visma | Lease a Bike were also prominent, with Marlen Reusser herself taking turns on the front for Movistar.
Wiebes was still there. That was the important point.
A new attack reshapes the race
The breakaway began to fall apart on the Côte de Mont-sur-Rolle. Biriukova and Cipressi were dropped from the front, leaving Comte, Koster and Jansen ahead, while the peloton began to fragment behind.
Célia Gery of FDJ United-Suez and Nina Berton of EF Education-Oatly attacked one kilometre from the summit, and more riders followed. Sarah van Dam of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Amanda Spratt of Lidl-Trek and Casasola were among those who jumped across, creating a new eight-rider group at the head of the race.
That group included Van Dam, Gery, Berton, Spratt, Casasola, Comte, Koster and Jansen. Behind, SD Worx-Protime tried to control a reduced peloton of around 40 riders, with the gap hovering around 15 seconds.
It was a dangerous moment. The stage was moving away from a simple chase of a tired break and towards a more tactical late race, with several strong riders now ahead.
Markus goes alone
Then Markus changed the race again. With around 40 kilometres remaining, the Lidl-Trek rider jumped from the peloton, overtook Comte and briefly had the Cofidis rider with her before going clear alone.
It was a classic Markus move: powerful, committed and well suited to the flat run-in towards Geneva. A former two-time Dutch time-trial champion, she settled into a rhythm and began to time trial towards the finish.
Lidl-Trek’s tactic was obvious. With Markus up the road, they did not need to chase behind, leaving SD Worx-Protime to carry responsibility for Wiebes. It also protected Balsamo, who could sit in the peloton while her teammate forced the yellow jersey’s team to spend energy.
Markus pushed her lead out to more than a minute with under 30 kilometres to go. At that point, it was no longer a speculative move. It was a live stage-winning threat.
SD Worx-Protime forced to use everyone
SD Worx-Protime had to make the chase. Other teams were positioned near the front, but few had an incentive to contribute fully while Wiebes remained the overwhelming sprint favourite.
Anna van der Breggen was among those working on the front as the gap began to fall. Mischa Bredewold and Daniek Vinke were also part of the chase structure, with Kopecky eventually taking huge turns in the final kilometres.
The tactical question became whether SD Worx-Protime would have anything left to lead out Wiebes once they caught Markus. The chase was long, hot and demanding, with the temperature still around 30°C and the riders having already covered the day’s climbing.
Markus held 50 seconds at 15 kilometres, then 30 seconds at 10 kilometres. She was not fading dramatically. SD Worx-Protime were closing, but not quickly enough to make the final feel comfortable.
Markus almost holds on
Inside the final 10 kilometres, the race reached the shoreline and the finish became fast and direct. The road into Geneva was broad, with few serious corners until a right-hand turn around 310 metres from the line.
That should have helped the chase, but Markus continued to resist. She still had 25 seconds with 5 kilometres to go, then 12 seconds with 2 kilometres remaining. Behind her, Kopecky was the only SD Worx-Protime rider still pulling, with Vinke and Bredewold already used up.
The peloton could see Markus, but seeing a rider is not the same as catching her. Lidl-Trek sat behind the chase, protecting Balsamo and waiting for the sprint. Liv AlUla Jayco and Canyon SRAM also tried to move up as the speed lifted.
Markus reached the final kilometre still ahead, with around 5 seconds in hand. The upset was still possible.
Then the peloton finally made contact. Markus was caught with 500 metres remaining, close enough to the line to underline both the strength of her ride and the narrowness of her defeat. She was later awarded the combativity prize, a fully deserved recognition after a brave and tactically sharp attack.
Photo Credit: GettyWiebes finishes the job
Once Markus was caught, Wiebes still had to win the sprint without a full lead-out train. That has rarely been a major problem for her.
The final right-hand bend came at around 310 metres to go, and Wiebes launched soon after, opening her sprint with roughly 250 metres remaining. She had the speed, the positioning and the confidence to finish the work SD Worx-Protime had done all afternoon.
Balsamo was second for Lidl-Trek, giving the team a strong result after Markus’ near miss. Vos finished third for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, showing again that she remains a major threat whenever a sprint comes after a harder day. Bossuyt took fourth for AG Insurance-Soudal.
It was Wiebes’ second victory in as many days at the Tour de France Femmes and another win in yellow. The nature of it was different from Lausanne. Stage 1 had been a reduced uphill sprint after a GC-style finale. Stage 2 was about surviving the climbs, trusting her team and then finishing after a late chase that almost got away from them.
Wiebes strengthens yellow and eyes green
Wiebes retained the yellow jersey and extended her position in the points competition with the stage win and her intermediate sprint points earlier in the day.
Her Tour has started almost perfectly. She has won a climb-sprint in Lausanne, then a flat, fast Geneva sprint after a hilly day where rivals tried to force SD Worx-Protime into a difficult chase. In both cases, the result was the same.
There is also an important team story here. SD Worx-Protime had to spend heavily to bring Markus back, but they did not panic. Van der Breggen, Bredewold, Vinke and Kopecky all contributed to the chase, and Wiebes finished the job even when the lead-out had been almost completely used up.
That is the mark of a team confident in its leader’s finishing speed. Even if the delivery is imperfect, Wiebes only needs a launch point.
Mahé keeps polka dots, Blasi stays in white
The classification battles around Wiebes also held their shape. Mahé retained the polka-dot jersey despite being distanced earlier in the stage, thanks to the points she had gained on stage 1. Koster and Comte moved closer after their work in the break, but not enough to remove Mahé from the jersey.
Blasi continued in the white jersey for UAE Team L’IMAD, with the team also managing the loss of Chapman, who had not started the stage due to illness. Blasi had described the jersey as a morale boost, while making clear that UAE’s main ambition in the race remains the yellow jersey.
The general classification contenders avoided major drama on the run-in, but the stage again showed the difficulty of staying safe and positioned through this Tour. The climbs reduced the field, the attacks forced reactions, and the final 40 kilometres were anything but straightforward.
Lidl-Trek come close to the perfect plan
Lidl-Trek almost executed the ideal tactical day. They placed Markus in a late move that forced SD Worx-Protime to chase alone, kept Balsamo protected behind, and then still landed second place in the sprint.
It was not enough to beat Wiebes, but it showed one possible route to putting pressure on the yellow jersey’s team. Rather than simply waiting for a sprint against the fastest rider in the race, they used Markus to drain SD Worx-Protime before the finish.
That nearly worked. Markus came within 500 metres of a stage win, and Balsamo still finished second once the race came back together. Against almost any other sprinter, that might have been enough.
Against Wiebes in this form, it was still only second.
Geneva confirms the early pattern
After two stages, the Tour de France Femmes has already developed a clear early pattern. The racing is aggressive, the middle sections are selective, and Wiebes is still finding a way to win.
Stage 2 was not as explosive in the GC sense as the Lausanne opener, but it was tactically more complicated. The break formed late after a fast start, the climbs created selection, Markus almost stole the stage, and SD Worx-Protime had to use almost every available rider before Wiebes delivered the sprint.
For the rest of the race, that is both encouraging and worrying. Encouraging because SD Worx-Protime can be put under pressure. Worrying because even when they are put under pressure, Wiebes is still winning.
The Tour now heads towards France with Wiebes in yellow, SD Worx-Protime in command, and the rest of the peloton still searching for a way to turn good tactics into a result that actually beats her.
Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 2 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
