RACE REPORT: Two stages. Two victories. Two days in yellow.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) continued her perfect start to the 2026 Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift. After winning the Stage 1 opener, she produced another devastating sprint in Geneva to win Stage 2 after Riejanne Markus’s courageous 39-kilometre solo escape was swallowed up less than 500 metres from the finish.
PEZ Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2026 Race Coverage is presented by FACTOR Bikes
The yellow jersey looked vulnerable for much of the afternoon, but once the bunch finally made contact, there was no stopping her. Wiebes burst through a narrowing gap and accelerated clear with authority, leaving Elisa Balsamo and Marianne Vos to settle for second and third.
For Markus, it was heartbreak. For Wiebes, it was another reminder that right now she’s simply the fastest woman in the peloton.
A Rolling Route, But One for the Sprinters
The 149-kilometre journey from Aigle to Geneva packed in four classified climbs and plenty of elevation, but the final kilometres were flat enough to suggest a reduced bunch sprint would decide the day.
Tour de France Avec wift 2026 Stage 2 Route Flyover Video
After claiming the opening stage in Lausanne, Wiebes started in the Maillot Jaune with another golden opportunity to extend her lead.
The early kilometres were lively, with numerous attacks attempting to establish the day’s breakaway. None succeeded before the peloton reached the first climb, the Côte de Chexbres (3.2km at 5.6%), where Cédrine Kerbaol collected maximum Queen of the Mountains points. Puck Pieterse followed over the summit in second.
Five Riders Finally Slip Away
The race settled briefly before Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels) launched the move that finally stuck with just under 95 kilometres remaining.
She was joined by Anouska Koster (Uno-X Mobility), Yuliia Biriukova (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), Ema Comte (Cofidis) and Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health), with the quintet gradually building an advantage of around two minutes.
On the Côte de Cossonay (2.0km at 6%), Koster appeared to have secured the mountain points before celebrating a touch too early. Comte slipped past her right on the line to steal maximum points—a mistake that would ultimately cost Koster the polka-dot jersey by a single point.
As the race hit the steeper Côte de Bougy-Villars, the break began to fracture. Biriukova and Cipressi were unable to hold the pace, while behind, several riders struggled in the peloton, including sprinter Charlotte Kool, who was briefly distanced before fighting her way back.
The Race Explodes
The final classified climb, Côte de Mont-sur-Rolle (2.3km at 6.5%), transformed the race.
French champion Célia Gery launched an aggressive attack that immediately split the bunch.
By the descent, eight riders had formed a dangerous move: Gery, Comte, Jansen, Koster, Amanda Spratt, Sarah Van Dam, Nina Berton and Sara Casasola.
Notably absent was SD Worx-Protime.
That left the race leaders with work to do. Lotte Kopecky, who had already spent much of the afternoon on the front, received support from teammates Nienke Vinke, Valentina Cavallar and Mischa Bredewold as they tried to bring the escape back under control.
The cooperation among the leaders never fully clicked, allowing the peloton to close steadily.
Markus Launches the Big Move
Just as the front group was about to be caught, Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) attacked.
It proved to be the move of the day.
The Dutch time trial specialist quickly built a lead approaching one minute with 35 kilometres remaining. Visma | Lease a Bike briefly joined SD Worx-Protime in the chase, but Markus continued to extend her advantage.
Even with 17 kilometres remaining, she still held almost 50 seconds.
Anna van der Breggen eventually came forward to help organize the pursuit, and although Markus’s advantage finally began to shrink, it stubbornly hovered around 30 seconds.
With just five kilometres left, she was still clear.
Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2026 Video Hilights
Caught in the Final Metres
One by one, the SD Worx domestiques emptied themselves until only Lotte Kopecky remained driving the chase.
When Kopecky finally swung off with two kilometres remaining, Liv AlUla Jayco took over the pursuit.
Markus entered the final kilometre still clinging to a handful of precious seconds.
The crowd hoped she might just make it.
Instead, the peloton swept past her in cruel fashion inside the final 500 metres.
Behind, Wiebes briefly appeared boxed in, but the yellow jersey calmly found daylight, accelerated through the opening, and unleashed another trademark sprint.
The result was never close.
Wiebes won by several bike lengths over Elisa Balsamo, while Marianne Vos completed the podium in third.
Two days into the Tour de France Femmes, Lorena Wiebes already has two stage victories, the yellow jersey firmly on her shoulders – and the rest of the peloton searching for a way to stop her.
Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2026 Stage 2 Results
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