OFFICIAL Stage 2 Results: Brodie Chapman, Sterre Vervloet ABANDON!
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Tour de France Femmes Gamers!
STAGE Grade: B+
I rate today’s stage a B+.
It was again a beautiful route. No GC implications, tactically a lot happened (namely catching Riejanne Markus), the sprint was majestic … I don’t know why I gave two stars for the surprise factor, but I’m sure I had my reasons.
Route: 4/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 5/5 Surprises: 2/5
Lorena Wiebes against everyone. But cycling is a team sport: Team SD Worx - Protime against everyone, then. That’s what it was today. There was a breakaway and chase groups and everything, but the key moment was when Riejanne Markus went solo, 39 km from the finish. Markus is two times the Dutch national time trial champion, she can ride solo for 39 kilometers and win the stage. That was SD Worx’ problem.
They had to bring her back, and they alone. Nobody else was going to work with them. Work to bring Wiebes to the front and then get beaten? Wiebes is so superior in the sprint, there’s no confusion about this in the peloton. Nobody else can win. If you can’t win, with just one rider ahead, you might as well save your legs and race for third place.
SD Worx doesn’t want third place. They want to win. They have to bring Markus back. But not too soon. If too soon, the peloton goes crazy. Remember stage 12 of the Tour de France this year? That ended in a bunch sprint but only barely. And it took several teams to control the peloton.
SD Worx can’t control the peloton by themselves. Therefore: catch Markus as late as possible. But not too late.
It was nearly too late. “Everyone start pulling!” came the order from Danny Stam, SD Worx’ sports director. “Me too?” asked Anna van der Breggen, twice on the final podium in the grand tours this year, and not here today to chase a breakaway. “If you want,” said Stam. So van der Breggen did her pull.
Everyone from SD Worx to the front, and then Wiebes has to fend for herself in the bunch sprint. That was the plan. It almost didn’t work. With 2,100 meters to go, SD Worx’ last rider, Lotte Kopecky, was done. Markus hadn’t been caught. Over two kilometers is too far for Wiebes to fend for herself. But Markus was now so close that the other teams abandoned their plans to let SD Worx do everything. I saw AG Insurance – Soudal Team pulling, I saw Liv AlUla Jayco pulling.
Markus was caught 600 meters from the line. Wiebes waited another 200 meters, then she went for it. Even from that distance, her margin over the rest of the field was immense. She took almost a full second on the number two placed rider. Wiebes against everyone else and she still wins.
Soudal got a fourth place out of their efforts to catch Markus, Liv fifth. Fourth and fifth is probably better than fifth and sixth, so I endorse their efforts to work with SD Worx for the final kilometers.
Allison Jackson tried everything she could to be in the breakaway, but failed. She finished 91st today, seven minutes behind Wiebes. In a grupetto with Charlotte Kool; I assume like Kool she was dropped on one of the climbs and decided to stay there.
Two of her French teammates were ahead of her: Émilie Morier was 32nd, Solène Muller 54th. They were in the middle of the peloton and I didn’t see either of them.
I did see a gaggle of St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93 riders in a grupetto crossing the line twelve minutes down. Four of them. I saw Sandrine Tas there, no idea how she ended up in that group. Everyone else, how do I say this … they were all taking the day off. In the back were Paula Ostiz and Idoia Eraso, laughing and faking a sprint. Eraso “won” the bike throw. I noticed it mostly because Eraso was wearing the green jersey.
Wiebes of course leads the points competition. But she can only wear one jersey at a time, so she wore yellow today. The next rider in the points competition would normally wear the green jersey, but that was Kim Le Court-Pienaar. She, however, was obligated to wear her Mauritius national champion’s jersey. Eraso was third in the points after stage 1 — she wore the green jersey for one day and decided to honor that by taking the day off.
Legs saved for all these riders, I expect to see some of them in the breakaway on Monday. What else is the point of taking stage 2 off.
Watch the final kilometer HERE
Watch NBC Sports’ Extended highlights HERE
Read the TNT Sports report HERE
Brodie Chapman was on Team Amalia and Team Wesley, they’ll have to limp along with one less rider for the remainder of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes. Sterre Vervloet’s last name starts with a V — therefore a member of Team Cameron who lose their second rider of the Tour.
I made a bit of a mess with the white jersey competition yesterday. Pro Cycling Stats didn’t immediately post the standings. I thought, “oh yeah, the women’s races don’t have a youth competition.” That was dumb. Of course they do. But in the 2026 Tour de France Femmes there has been a bit of a controversy around the competition. ASO, the Tour organizers, quietly turned the Under-23 competition into an Under-24 competition. They can do whatever they want, but many were surprised on Saturday when Paula Blasi was called to the podium.
Anyway, those points are now accounted for properly in our game, too. Under 24. Got it.
Spoiler alert: only Team Amalia and Team Katja traded places today; everyone else remained where they were.
Team Tadej won today’s stage. Eline Jansen and Lily Williams made the difference for them. Most points from the stage, most riders in the Top-25 (eight). Team Amalia, always ready when there’s a bunch sprint, took third. Team Hugo landed at the tail end of the main group in fourth.
The others missed the boat today. Team Cameron took fifth, Team Katja sixth, and Team Wesley seventh.
Monday’s race looks like a breakaway kind of day. Lorena Wiebes will want to race for another sprint victory, but it’s questionable if her team can control the peloton and the breakaway. The race starts with a category 1 climb, and everyone will want to hurt Wiebes and her team as much as possible right away. That will drop all the other sprinters, too. If someone like Marianne Vos is still near the front after that climb, she could win the whole thing. But that’s true for Wiebes, too.
After that climb there are three more categorized climbs, one of each category. After the last climb it goes downhill for 25 kilometers to the finish. I don’t know what to make of that race. It will be entertaining, and at least twenty riders could win.
Teams that picked Célia Gery probably did so because of stage 3. And I agree, she can win it. But so can Demi Vollering, Kim Le Court-Pienaar, and Elisa Balsamo. But I have to pick someone and, sure, why not. On the first climb, Vollering is going hard to hurt everyone else. Gery stays with her, a small peloton gets to the category 2 climb, Gery disappears and wins the stage. Let’s do it!
Standings after stage 2:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
520 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Tadej* |
492 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Hugo* |
432 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Amalia* |
363 |
5 |
1 |
|
5 |
Team Katja* |
287 |
4 |
-1 |
|
6 |
Team Cameron* |
228 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Wesley* |
116 |
7 |
0 |
Standings after stage 2 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Jake |
525 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Valerie |
523 |
7 |
5 |
|
3 |
Team Ansel* |
520 |
2 |
-1 |
|
4 |
Team Kent |
516 |
10 |
6 |
|
Team Melanie |
516 |
9 |
5 |
|
|
6 |
Team Laurens |
513 |
5 |
-1 |
|
7 |
Team Catherine |
503 |
3 |
-4 |
|
8 |
Team Cameron |
498 |
6 |
-2 |
|
9 |
Team Tadej* |
492 |
15 |
6 |
|
Team Charlotte |
492 |
4 |
-5 |
|
|
11 |
Team Craig |
471 |
12 |
1 |
|
12 |
Team Kari |
469 |
15 |
3 |
|
13 |
Team Sam |
468 |
11 |
-2 |
|
14 |
Team Amelia |
461 |
12 |
-2 |
|
15 |
Team Allison |
457 |
8 |
-7 |
|
16 |
Team Lichterman |
445 |
12 |
-4 |
|
17 |
Team Hugo* |
432 |
17 |
0 |
|
18 |
Team Andrew |
428 |
22 |
4 |
|
19 |
Team Ellie |
414 |
21 |
2 |
|
20 |
Team Adam |
411 |
18 |
-2 |
|
21 |
Team Doug |
407 |
20 |
-1 |
|
22 |
Team Erin |
397 |
19 |
-3 |
|
23 |
Team Wesley |
391 |
22 |
-1 |
|
24 |
Team Julie |
373 |
25 |
1 |
|
25 |
Team Grace |
371 |
24 |
-1 |
|
26 |
Team Kate |
368 |
26 |
0 |
|
27 |
Team Amalia* |
363 |
30 |
3 |
|
28 |
Team Corsa |
344 |
27 |
-1 |
|
29 |
Team Suzanne |
337 |
28 |
-1 |
|
30 |
Team Katja* |
287 |
29 |
-1 |
|
31 |
Team Allie |
275 |
31 |
0 |
|
32 |
Team Karin |
237 |
32 |
0 |
|
33 |
Team Cameron* |
228 |
34 |
1 |
|
34 |
Team Ellen |
174 |
33 |
-1 |
|
35 |
Team Wesley* |
116 |
35 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 2:
|
STAGE RESULTS |
YELLOW JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
COMBATIVE |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
|
Team Amalia* |
136 |
29 |
9 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
43 |
179 |
184 |
363 |
|
Team Ansel* |
119 |
43 |
12 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
67 |
186 |
334 |
520 |
|
Team Cameron* |
91 |
18 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
114 |
114 |
228 |
|
Team Hugo* |
98 |
37 |
12 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
57 |
155 |
277 |
432 |
|
Team Katja* |
60 |
27 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
36 |
96 |
191 |
287 |
|
Team Tadej* |
139 |
42 |
13 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
64 |
203 |
289 |
492 |
|
Team Wesley* |
58 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
11 |
69 |
47 |
116 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 2 (including adults):
|
82 |
40 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
53 |
135 |
276 |
411 |
|
|
Team Allie |
89 |
24 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
118 |
157 |
275 |
|
Team Allison |
86 |
47 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
60 |
146 |
311 |
457 |
|
Team Amalia* |
136 |
29 |
9 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
43 |
179 |
184 |
363 |
|
Team Amelia |
111 |
37 |
8 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
55 |
166 |
295 |
461 |
|
Team Andrew |
112 |
39 |
12 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
60 |
172 |
256 |
428 |
|
Team Ansel* |
119 |
43 |
12 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
67 |
186 |
334 |
520 |
|
Team Cameron |
109 |
48 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
61 |
170 |
328 |
498 |
|
Team Cameron* |
91 |
18 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
114 |
114 |
228 |
|
Team Catherine |
103 |
49 |
10 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
67 |
170 |
333 |
503 |
|
Team Charlotte |
93 |
50 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
67 |
160 |
332 |
492 |
|
Team Corsa |
102 |
31 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
142 |
202 |
344 |
|
Team Craig |
120 |
39 |
9 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
56 |
176 |
295 |
471 |
|
Team Doug |
89 |
40 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
53 |
142 |
265 |
407 |
|
Team Ellen |
23 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
19 |
42 |
132 |
174 |
|
Team Ellie |
106 |
34 |
9 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
51 |
157 |
257 |
414 |
|
Team Erin |
75 |
37 |
5 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
51 |
126 |
271 |
397 |
|
Team Grace |
99 |
33 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
43 |
142 |
229 |
371 |
|
Team Hugo* |
98 |
37 |
12 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
57 |
155 |
277 |
432 |
|
Team Jake |
111 |
50 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
70 |
181 |
344 |
525 |
|
Team Julie |
108 |
28 |
9 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
41 |
149 |
224 |
373 |
|
Team Kari |
126 |
37 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
54 |
180 |
289 |
469 |
|
Team Karin |
72 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
22 |
94 |
143 |
237 |
|
Team Kate |
103 |
32 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
42 |
145 |
223 |
368 |
|
Team Katja* |
60 |
27 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
36 |
96 |
191 |
287 |
|
Team Kent |
148 |
45 |
12 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
65 |
213 |
303 |
516 |
|
Team Laurens |
116 |
48 |
12 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
68 |
184 |
329 |
513 |
|
Team Lichterman |
99 |
43 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
150 |
295 |
445 |
|
Team Melanie |
143 |
46 |
14 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
68 |
211 |
305 |
516 |
|
Team Sam |
112 |
42 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
59 |
171 |
297 |
468 |
|
Team Suzanne |
96 |
27 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
40 |
136 |
201 |
337 |
|
Team Tadej* |
139 |
42 |
13 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
64 |
203 |
289 |
492 |
|
Team Valerie |
140 |
48 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
65 |
205 |
318 |
523 |
|
Team Wesley |
91 |
36 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
44 |
135 |
256 |
391 |
|
Team Wesley* |
58 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
11 |
69 |
47 |
116 |
Vive le Tour Femmes!
-Laurens.