Shari Bossuyt, the fastest in a decimating stage
May 4 th 2026 - 17:31 [GMT + 2]
Track specialist Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal) got away with the win in the second stage of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es, raced over a hilly course in the province of Orense that came down to a sprint in San Cibrao das Viñas between less than 40 riders. It was a demanding stage that saw Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) crash out with 13 kilometres to go while in La Roja. The second rider in the overall, Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), rose to the occasion and was second across the finish line to claim the overall lead with 6” on the day’s winner and 10” on Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime), who couldn’t contest the final sprint after bumping shoulders with Bossuyt (who coincidentally is her partner on the track) just 150 metres from the finish. La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es will carry on this Tuesday with a 121,2-kilometre stage between Padrón and A Coruña that, despite the undulating nature of the terrain in Galicia, should be suited to sprinters.
124 riders took the start in the second stage of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es, held in the province of Orense between Lobios and San Cibrao das Viñas over 109,8 kilometres that included 2,134 metres of elevation gain and no categorized climbs, making for a real hills galore. Visma’s Marianne Vos had to withdraw from the race overnight, after crashing the day before and sustaining a broken collarbone. The real start was given as of 14:14 CEST, under cloudy skies and in mild temperatures. No meaningful breakaway attempts happened in the first hour of racing, when Liv-AlUla-Jayco’s Ella Wyllie had to abandon after struggling with sickness for the last few days.
A five-strong breakaway
It was 44 kilometres into the race that five riders managed to go clear. They were Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal), Marieke Meert (Lotto Intermarché Ladies), Léa Rondel (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), Andrea Casagranda (Vini Fantini-Bepink) and Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Premier Tech). The latter was just 10” in arrears of La Roja, Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), in the overall standings, and thus quickly became the virtual GC leader. Their maximum gap was 1’12”, timed at kilometre 50. The breakaway managed to stay up the road until the Intermediate Sprint in A Merca (IS, km 80), where Schrempf was first across, and was caught with 27 kilometres to go after Lidl-Trek launched several moves to speed up the chase.
Rüegg crashes out
500 meters of elevation gain were left to overcome in the final 30 kilometres of the stage. Particularly challenging was the 3,2-kilometre climb at 4,6% average that the riders were bound to face inside the final 5 kilometres of the race and was to be crested just 1,5 kilometres from the finish at San Cibrao das Viñas. With 13 kilometres to go, Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) touched wheels with a teammate and crashed as a result, bringing down white jersey Eleonora Ciabocco with her. The Swiss rider was unable to continue, pulling out from the race while wearing La Roja as the overall leader. Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) managed to breakaway solo 13 kilometres from the finish, yet was caught with 3 to go as riders like Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) tried to anticipate the sprint. In the end, it all came down to a gallop between 30-odd riders among which AG Insurance-Soudal’s Shari Bossuyt proved to be the fastest.
