Get in the mood for Stage 3 of the 2025 Tour of Britain Women by watching the highlights from Stage 2.
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[Music] [Music] [Applause] welcome to day two of the 2025 Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women We’re on the northeast coast of England in the town of Hartley for the start of stage two The riders will be heading south to finish in Saltburn by the Sea and the iconic climb up Saltburn Bank with its famous hairpins That finish always provides exciting racing and we certainly got plenty of that on stage one 110 riders rolled out from Dolby Forest in Yorkshire with 81.5 km of rolling terrain ahead of them on the way to the finish on the coast in red car Anushka Costa led over the first Queen of the Mountains climb of the day Look at this from the Polish champion in wide though Dominica Vladekk is giving Anuska Costa a good run for her money But it was on the second categorized climb at Langburn’s Bank that the race really got going Kim Lort attacked an Olympic road race champion Kristen Falner and Olympic time trial silver medalist Anna Henderson tried to go with her And it’s Kim Lort kicking things off and Anna Henderson’s trying to follow She’s attempting to try and follow the wheel The rider from Maitius was first over the top of the climb and on the descent she was joined by Falner The pair held on to their advantage through the day sprint at Newton under Rosebury But as a race headed towards a finish in red car the chasing pack were closing in fast Kim Lort goes in the white jersey Look at the way that the Olympic road race champion for trying to challenge But this Lord who’s got the advantage Lord has half a bike length Well she’s going to be able to take stage one Or is she oh there she takes it Kim Lord wins stage one into red core of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women Behind is the European champion Lena Weas who takes third Forner settles for second because of time bonuses for the first three riders across the finish Kim Lort’s lead over Kristen Falner is 5 seconds Lennena Webezz is third at 14 seconds Then comes Caroline Swinkles at 17 and a group of riders at 18 seconds including British riders Cat Ferguson and Millie [Music] Cousins As the riders prepared for the start of stage two in Heartley we caught up with a Great Britain cycling team to see what their goals are for the rest of the tour 114K today We’ve got two queen of the mountains So objectives as we chatted is look after Millie at all times Try and sniff out some early moves if you can Keep rotating through and if you can get in a move that’s great We’ve got a little bit of local knowledge cuz I’m from this neck of the woods So the the first part of the stage is is like punctuate with narrow lanes twists and turns So although it’s flat on paper it’s still quite a tough day really Going to try and protect Millie as much as we can infiltrate the brakes early early on and just try and get an easy ride as possible within that with a view to to putting Millie in the in the front group for me Just try and save a bit of energy in the first half and then I think the final circuit is going to be really tough So just try and follow the moves to her and see how it goes Really Millie you know go with that front 19 Plenty numbers to to follow there We’ve got some strong teams We’ll keep you informed on the radio what’s in who’s in the group Um but it’s looking like it will split on that on that finish itself Yeah they given like the numbers out yesterday Yeah it’s nice especially to be able to do it in the GB jersey and get that recognition to be able to race on home roads It’s kind of one of the only opportunities that we get So it’s really nice Racing in the UK is struggling You know it’s hard to put events on you know traffic closing city centers down etc So this is hugely important uh for a national team Uh you know we’ve got a majority of pathway riders So they’ve come through the system with Hendo up there and and Kat you know British riders They’ve got a bit of um bit more motivation to do do a result this week So you know they’re in that front group Uh so they’re they’re probably key riders to keep an eye on that finishing circuit The event itself is massive We get to see how our pathway is working We also like trying to to fill our our Olympic quota So we’re looking at the you know the future It’s it’s inspiring for young kids uh for young female athletes that there’s something there to do you know and you know another sport to try So that’s huge Right here’s what the Pelaton will be facing today The Tease Valley plays host to stage two of the tour with a race covering 114.3 km from Hartley to Saltburn by the Sea After circling around Middlesborough the riders hit the first sprint of the day at Gizbbor The route then hits the climb at Masked Lane before tackling the famous hairpins of Saltburn Bank There is an intermediate sprint as a riders cross the finish line for the first time and then they repeat the loop before returning to Saltburn by the sea for the stage finish The riders are making their way to the start line in Hartley So let’s hand you over to your commentary team of Hannah Walker and Haley Simmons Stage two taking the riders from Hartley to Saltburn by the sea 114.3 km The riders are waiting eager and ready to get the stage underway It could be decisive And as you can see from the weather conditions the riders have all got their Gilelays on They’ve got the rain capes The rain is coming down but that’s not deterred the fans at the roadside We’ve got 5.2 km of neutralized section before the stage will officially get underway And you can see our leader in the green jersey Kim Lord Yesterday’s stage winner the leader of the general classification the Mussian champion with the multicord helmet Just to her left hand side in the white jersey that’s Cat Ferguson the British rider You can also just see a little sneak there of Anushka Costa with the blue jersey underneath the black Gile 107 riders continuing in the race Two riders didn’t finish yesterday including Freya Knox and Danny Bram One rider not taken to the start this morning and that’s Kate Richardson the Scottish rider from Hansling Alba Development Road Team We’ve also got one rider at the front She’s actually got a black jersey on right now She’s on the gold bike just behind the red car That’s Linda Zanetti She’s leading the red points classification jersey but there’s been several riders in front of her She’s fifth in the classification but because of the rulings Haley she’s wearing the jersey today Yeah it’s quite unique that you actually see the fifth place rider in that classification wearing the jersey I mean um you know the the current race uh leader Kim Lort Obviously she she um can’t wear all of the jerseys at once So normally that jersey would be passed to the second rider Oh there’s some It looks like some riders have gone the wrong way there and uh taken the the wrong side of the road Oh they’re rejoining Rejoining Rejoining Well they’re taking a little bit of a diversion by the looks of things One of those riders is how it is Kiara Canon having a chat Her and a good friend Elanora Gasparini of UAE ADQ in the white jersey Too busy having a chinwag They’ve taken a little bit of a diversion Let’s hope that they can rejoin the the race route I’m glad to see they’re in good spirits but also in the car there keeping things all neutralized They’re they’re all in good spirits as well Trying to get a bit of a head start here aren’t they sprinters eh i know they’ll be called back behind the commissair’s car in a minute Oh yeah they are uh yeah they are just apologizing there to to the commissair but no it’s quite unusual to see the fifth place rider in the classification wearing wearing the jersey but obviously Kim Lort can’t wear all of the jerseys that she earned yesterday Normally it would be Kristen Faulner wearing uh the jersey in her place but she’s actually obviously got the American Champions jersey on her shoulders And then the third place rider Lena Vibes is the European champion And again that jersey takes precedence Cat Ferguson is in the young riders jersey And so it’s actually the fifth place rider Linda Zenetti who will be wearing that points jersey today Rod Ellenworth the race director is out the sunroof of the car He waves the flag They go through kilometer zero and stage two is officially underway You can see the pink jerseys of EF Education Oly are amassing towards the front And of course they’re wanting to try and protect the American the USA national champion and the Olympic road race champion Kristen Forner on a day like today because particularly with such a a start we have today you want to make sure that the the breakaway if a breakaway does go away that it’s not too strong that it’s it’s more than doable to keep under control You can also see a number of riders at the back line swinkles and we start to see one of our first riders make a move This is one of the riders from Smurfett Westrock Cycling Team in the red and black jersey Looks as though it’s Lucy Harris who’s trying to make a move It’s closely followed by a little bit of a reaction from Das Hutchinson as more riders try and float off the front here Yeah I think it big crash Big crash at the back here Haley There’s several riders down One of the riders is from the Great Britain national team and the green jerseys down The green jersey the leader of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women Kim Lord is down She looked like she took a bad knock there So um let’s keep an eye and see see if she gets back on her bike but she is uh taking some time to get up Also coming down then suffering in that crash there Jess Roberts as Tiffany keep She goes off the front now And the attacks keep coming because now there’s a reaction from Joe Tinley of Smurfett Westrog who’s trying to come up to keep Our race leader Kim Laort was involved in a crash earlier on in the stage but happily she was able to continue Before the race started we subjected her to a quickfire Q&A My name is Kim Lopar and I write for AG in Sural What food could you not live without pasta Do you prefer cats or dogs dogs Would you rather be too hot or too cold too cold What was the last song you listened to one step at a time What other sport are you good at soccer Your favorite place to go on holiday botswana or Maitius Uh what was your best subject at school sports What was your worst subject at school french Favorite word in another language what dish do you cook best a good pasta dish Yeah Who or what makes you laugh the most my friends my husband Best bit of advice for young riders or young athletes Ah um never stop believing Always aim high If you’re going through a hard time just know that a lot of people do go through hard times and it will get better It’s always light at the end of the tunnel Our three leaders in the breakaway have 1 kilometer to go until they get to the first intermediate sprint of the day into Gizbbor On the front it’s Tiffany Kee the rider who kicked things off earlier on this morning in the blue and green jersey of Das Hutchinson in the red and black It’s Lucy Gat of Smurfett Westrock racing team And then from Hansling Alba Development Road team that’s Maddie Leech in the blue and pink fade with the blue overshomed sprint Don’t forget points are available for that red points classification and bonus seconds And the weather Haley Simmons has completely changed from this morning I know I think the riders will be thankful for that We did see a lot of wet roads and riders with uh multiple layers on this morning and now mostly the rain jackets have come off and and the roads in the most part look to be dry which will make the finale a lot safer The time gap that these three riders have had has been over 3 minutes at one point Everything behind in this Pelaton has been controlled by around six different teams But right now it’s Movies in those white jerseys who have come to the four because they’re wanting to try and protect their best young rider and that’s Cat Ferguson one of the best British riders too coming into this intermediate sprint into the market town of Gizbbor It’s Lucy Gad on the front in the red jersey Tiffany Keep is getting herself set up and ready to try and take these points and try and take these bonus seconds and it’s Keith the South African who goes on the far right hand side A big acceleration now Gad starts to make an acceleration and tries to react but it’s all but too late Tiffany Kee takes the 10 points She takes a three bonus seconds Gad taking second And here we see the replay Yeah it looks like Maddie Leech maybe didn’t have anything to give She unfortunately had to have a bike change earlier got gapped a little bit and then had to work her way back to her two breakaway compatriots Um so potentially her legs are just a little bit done and she couldn’t contest for that sprint The chase from the Pelaton is coming through Gizbbor there about to approach that intermediate sprint Raqueli Barbieri in the indigo and orange jersey for picnic pastel down the center of the road in the white jersey That’s one of the Spanish riders Ruith Perez from Mauiar But the chase right now is all on to try and chase these two down Tiffany Ke takes the 10 points and the three bonus seconds Lucy Gad taking seven and two bonus seconds Matty Leech with the five points and one bonus seconds with Barbie taking the three The one point going to Ru Perez Tiffany Ke and Lucy Gad are working well together in this breakaway Meanwhile the third rider who was initially in the breakaway medalich is caught by the pelaton That time gap now at 1 minute Yeah you can really see the intention of the chasers behind and uh that time gap which was 3 minutes at it at its greatest is now only a minute And I think uh this is the beginning of the end for the breakaway We’re about to approach the first queen of the mountain of the day That’s mask lane and you can see the profile that the riders have to contend with in the final 35 km Our breakaway duo goes through the bottom of this Queen of the Mountain 33.6 km to go It’s only a 1.9 km climb but these gradients are pretty brutal towards the top part of this Queen of the Mountain I think as well these closing kind of 35 km of the stage Although there are only the two categorized climbs you’ve also got two ascents of Saltburn Ba Bank and then there are numerous other climbs on this course that aren’t categorized but will just kind of all accumulate together to really sap the energy from the legs Karaone moves her way forward in the pink jersey as does Sila Bloodvig Canyon Stram Zonda Krypto Little Treker amassing themselves up towards the front in on the right hand side in the red blue and yellow jerseys Emma Norskar Burg and Loretta Hansen No sign of the green jersey yet but I can see some of the jerseys further back Those dark blue jerseys of AG insurance Sudal That would uh indicate that their race leader Kim Lort is somewhere in here but hopefully she’s not suffering too much from that earlier crash and she’ll be feeling okay when we hit this climb This climb has an average of 5.4% And when you take a look at the lower part of this climb it’s not too severe It’s when we get to those final 500 meters where you see gradients of 11 12 13% Here comes the arrival of the USA National Road Race Champion in the Stars and Stripes with the pink helmet She’s got a nice cadence keeping things pretty calm Now starts to as more riders start to move forward including one rider from UA Team ADQ You get the sense here There’s a bit of tension And everybody’s waiting for this hard section of the climb because they know fireworks can start Absolutely I think it’s really important for the riders to be at the front because it gives them an opportunity to react to any attacks that go but also it gives them more slipping room If you’re right at the front and uh riders start to struggle then um you know you’ve got a bit further to fall before you actually lose contact with the back of the group Well they’ve gone across the crossroads through 500 m until they crash the top of this Queen of the Mountain here on Mask Lane And look at how steep this climb is And Tiffany Keep well she was the rider who was decisive at the start of the stage She was the rider who forced the breakaway to go And Lucy Gad is having a hard time at trying to follow the rider from South Africa But Ke is making this look easy She’s got a nice cadence She’s right within a rhythm but she’s making light work I think it’s actually really key here to just choose the correct gear Try and stay seated if you can because it’s a little bit more efficient Maybe get out the saddle to kick over the really steep bits but just try and find the gear that you can comfortably ride up this climb and just keep pushing on And I think it is inevitable that these chasers behind are going to catch these riders But you know the smoother that she can be the best opportunity she’ll give herself Behind the pace is elevated Anuska Costa in the blue jersey of Uno X mobility has started to move forward She wants to try and take some points in this Queen of the Mountain Don’t forget it’s a categorized one climb so big points are on offer 10 points for the first rider to crest the top and points are available for the first 10 riders in total But now they’re starting to close on in to our two riders out front I think with the features that are left um at the back end of this stage the fact that the riders um are all going to be fighting for those general classification positions means that any gaps that are still remaining are going to be closed quite quickly with the accelerations that are coming from the chasers Keep still managing to hold on Lucy Gad right now is finding herself in some difficulty and it’s incredible how quickly this Pelaton has closed on in on our breakaway duo They’ve closed a minute’s gap and this is around what 20 seconds currently to Tiffany Keep but she’s well within a rhythm She’s got gritted teeth fighting to try and take the maximum points on this Queen of the Mountain I think if she can continue riding this consistent rhythm and get over the top of the climb as as we’ve just seen her do then maybe she’ll have a chance to sneak into this group when they do eventually catch her It looks as though Lucy Gad is going to manage to hold on for second place over this Queen of the Mountain Or is she well look at that acceleration from Anuska Costa She comes through and steals those points off Lucy Gad And that’s exactly what Anuska Costa was looking for She wants to try and get herself into that jersey by the end of the day but she’s continuing to ride And Dominica Vladekk in the white jersey here the Polish champion is continuing to kick things on She was really impressive to watch yesterday and she’s clearly feeling good Vladek did take fourth place taking seven points Ralden taking the six points Forner taking five with Henderson with four Utra Bloodvig taking three Weebiz with the two Jere taking the one point in that first Queen of the Mountain Still one lone leader out front Tiffany Ke has a small advantage over the chasers behind but we’re starting to see the race shift and change now with select favorites and big names in this chasing group here Yeah absolutely And you know there are going to be quite a lot of gaps that will have opened on that climb And to be honest the features now come thick and fast Um there are some unclassified climbs that the riders will have to face now before they reach Saltburn And then of course they’ve got to tackle this category one climb all over again It’s quite technical in places between here and Saltburn Bank Particularly when you go through the countryside you’ve got a fast descent down the other side You’ve got a lot of undulation unclassified climbs which could be used as a launch pad to try and make moves try and create new gaps and new breakaways Yeah absolutely And especially because a lot of the climbs actually come off the back of quite fast descents And so if the Pelaton is strung out um and then they attack the climbs hard then the gaps are just going to grow Um and what we’re seeing now is that Tiffany Kee is finally being reeled in by the Pelaton And I think these will be her final few moments of uh of time up the road by herself Whatever happens here for Tiffany Kee the South African from Das Hutchinson it’s been a tremendous ride She’s been strong She’s shown herself out front and she’s shown herself shown her team what she’s capable of And meanwhile Liveula Jacob send Amber Pate up the road in this purple jersey Immediately counterattacks are starting to fly and go off the front and Visma Lisa bike in the yellow jerseys have taken up the chase at the front Could we see a new breakaway now as the race makes its way south we caught up with the Minister for the Future of Roads Lillian Greenwood MP at the finish in Saltburn It’s so important to uh have events like this to inspire the next generation particularly of women and girls uh to get on their bikes We know uh it’s great for the nation’s uh health It enables people to have that opportunity to get involved in exercise but also the practical thing of getting on a bike and being able to uh go places I’m here as the roads minister Obviously one of the things I’m really proud that we’re doing nationally investing an extra 500 million pounds this year on fixing the roads because of course you need smooth safe roads to get people out on bikes We know it puts people off if they think they’re going to hit a pothole or have to swerve to avoid one How important do you think events like this the Lloyds tour of Britain are to inspire the next generation oh I think it’s it’s fabulous Uh I met some of the young women who are here today who are watching this and thinking that could be them in the future Of course not everyone’s going to be an elite uh racer The the important thing is that everyone can ride a bike We want everyone to benefit from the opportunities of um you know just in having a bit more activity in your life What it does for your mental health what it does for your physical health It’s a great thing Into Salt Burn Bank is Lizzie Dyen the former world champion who’s leading little trek into the bottom of this severe climb Don’t forget our next intermediate sprint is coming up and it’ll be the first passage of the line with 18.7 km remaining Now she starts to wind it up and there was a crash earlier on with 27 km to go Weebis was caught up Fem Marcus her teammate also Anna Mar Morris came down We expected Weebiz to be in that front group and we wondered where she was but this now explains everything The European champion is down but certainly not out No though it’s going to be difficult at this point for her to get back on terms with the pace that’s been injected at the front by Lizzie Dagnen And really you can just see how the riders in this front group are strung out And at this point in in the race I don’t think the pace is going to let up at all And I don’t think these gaps are going to close again Cap Ferguson in the white jersey sitting in second wheel in the yellow It’s the 19-year-old youngster Imagigen Wolf in the yellow jersey for Visma Lisa Bike Lizzy Dyen though is the rider who’s dishing out all of the pain to these riders Just take a look at the grimaces and the shoulders rocking and rolling Charlotte is a little bit further back with gritted teeth But here’s the arrival of Kristen Forner the USA national champion Don’t forget bonus seconds are on offer And she’s the closest challenger in the general classification right now Absolutely And you talk about the grimaces on the faces but actually Kristen Faulner looks under control She looks smooth she looks calm and she looks like she’s actually uh very well positioned to take some points and some bonus seconds at the top of this climb She’s come into this race stating that this kind of course suits her well across the four stages given the fact that the climbs are short steep It suits her attributes and character as a rider And right now she’s in a very controlling position And everybody else is having to react But here comes the move from behind It’s Anna Henderson the Olympic silver medalist of Little Trek who’s looking to try and take the points looking to try and take the bonus seconds She’s currently being challenged by Caroline Swinkles Kristen Forner It was a late reaction but she’s trying to come through but so is the white jersey cap Ferguson A throw for the line Well try and separate them A photo finish between Ferguson and Forner You can really see how much these bonus seconds mean to this rider with such close margins being known to affect the overall outcome of this race It really does uh pay dividends to put in that extra effort Well it was indeed Forner who took the 10 points Ferguson taking seven Swinkles with the five Henderson settling for three and it was Ralden who picked up the one But crucially Forner got three bonus seconds there Absolutely And uh you know these these bonus seconds could be crucial There are more still to get on tomorrow’s stage and the final stage into Glasgow too Into the second and final Queen of the Mountain of the Day Picnic Post and All in those indigo and orange jerseys This is almost like a team time trial They’re in a commanding position right now And they’ve got a plan They’ve got five riders Charlotte Cole comes through They’ve got Megan Jastrab They’ve also got Mara Ralden Josie Nelson and Esme Pepperc They’re all trying to work well together And meanwhile there’s a number of riders who have found themselves off the back including Bani in the white jersey for Mauiar Another one of those riders is Margot Vi as well as number 13 and that’s Alanora Gasparini I think the formation of the riders from the team picnic postNL squad uh indicates that they’ve they’ve got a plan here They want to do something in the closing kilometers of this stage So it’ll be interesting to see exactly um how they tackle this next Queen of the Mountains climb What’s apparent to me they’re all working So it doesn’t look as though they’re trying to save one rider more than another And don’t forget they’ve got Megan Jastra who sits well in the general classification at eighth overall at 18 seconds Yeah it’s really interesting because obviously teams want to get something out of this race and so there’ll have been a discussion between riders directors discussions on how uh each of the individuals are feeling and the stages that are coming up and what the profiles of those stages are and they’ll look at what their best opportunity is to get on a podium now Is that the overall race podium or is that an individual stage podium and I think what we’re seeing is uh they think that they can do something today and maybe be one of the top riders on the stage uh finish in Saltburn Amber Crack starts to move forward in that navy blue and red jersey for FDJ Seers Don’t forget she was crucial on yesterday’s stage for Ali Wiston She’s got a great motor She’s a real diesel engine And meanwhile these riders well I think this is just a little bit too late because they’ve got a lot of work to close and the team cars are coming by They’re out almost going out of the convoy and I think it’s going to be race over for them at least for today’s stage Absolutely And now they’ll just work on uh you know saving as much energy as they can despite the fact that the remainder of this stage is still quite hard It’s quite hard going Um so they’ll just ride together keep working together and and uh try and limit their losses a little bit Other riders who are in this group you can see on the right hand side in the paint jersey that’s Sicilia Utra Bloodvik behind her with the rider with the red helmet That’s the Canadian Sarah Vanam of Seratis Pro Cycling I also just caught sight of Lauren Dixon of Hansling Alberta Development Road Team They’re working hard but I feel like this they’ve got a lot of work to do to try and close And meanwhile at the front of the race well this is a huge move for Picnic Postel They were trying to set things up and into the final 500 meters of this Queen of the Mountain Mask Lane They’ve launched one rider and this looks like the figure of Mara Rolled in the Canadian Look at the way that a shoulders rock and roll and that was an explosive attack This is an all or nothing attack now You know they’ve already seen this climb once They clearly went into it the second time with a plan Uh we knew that something was brewing and this looks like it was it and and this is an all or nothing ride or die move Don’t forget we’ve got from the top of this climb 13.2 km to go until we get to the finish So Marta Ralden the 21-year-old Canadian has decided to strike early and behind no one can react Such are the brutal gradients of this climb here on Mar Lane Nobody can do anything No And team picnic postell were the team that really had the numbers in this group But with such gradients actually there’s not that much of advantage from drafting and sitting in the wheels So almost these riders are kind of uh looking after themselves a little bit and you can see the effort that all of the riders from uh team picnic post and now put in that was Charlotta cool just you know saying saying goodbye to that group She’s done her job for today and now she just needs to get herself to the finish Lizzy Dyen her job is done for the day too Grace Listister in that lime green jersey starting to struggle to hold on Meanwhile at the front of the race it’s Mara Ralden who crested the top of this queen of the mountain She takes the 10 points That’s just a bonus She’s looking for the stage victory here with a labored look but it’s effective her style Yeah I mean she’s obviously feeling good I hadn’t necessarily picked up on it but we did see her name in those top 10 riders um over the line on on this climb on the last lap and also at the top of Saltburn Lauren Dixon leads the select group over the top of that Queen of the Mountain She takes the nine points Kristen Forner picking up eight points in that Queen of the Mountain but we have got a select group who is starting to go clear But we can see despite that climb only being 1.9 km long it’s done the damage And there we get the results Ralden taking the 10 Dixon with the nine Forner taking eight Swinkles with the seven Ludvig taking six Vanam holds on for five points Ton with four Ferguson taking three Marcus with a two and Jastra taking the one You’ve got to say what a ride from Lauren Dixon Um this is only really her first kind of full season and her first professional UCI race last year was actually the British National Championships on a course based around Saltburn and she didn’t finish on that occasion and then less than a year later she’s finding herself at the front of a women’s world tour race with the best riders in the world When you’re surrounded by these riders and right now Lauren Dixon is surrounded by riders who have won stages of the tour to France fam They’ve won big world tour races Olympic road race champion How impressive is that for Dixon it’s really impressive and to be honest she just has to soak all this in right now and just learn as much as she can and enjoy the moment One rider has chipped off the front in pursuit of Ralden and that’s Rihanna Marcus Our lone leader inside 10 kilometers to go It’s Mara Ralden the 21-year-old Canadian from Picnic PostnL She’s swinging the bike into this left hand side And with such a small advantage here she needs to try and take as much gap as possible as much time as possible But in the meantime it’s Rihanna Marcus of Little Trek who’s in the chase Exactly And we know that Rihanna Marcus is a really strong time trial rider And um from the style of riding she looks a little bit more in control So it’ll be really interesting to see whether Mara Ralden can hold her advantage or not The chasing group go through 10 km to go Just at the back of that group that’s the young British rider Grace Listister of Hess Cycling Team in the lime green jersey Don’t forget they’re on to roads that they’ve already seen once before today They had that lap before and now they’re on to this descent Mara Ralden will know this as she goes into the dappled light into what is pretty narrow and also patchy dry wet roads That proves uh that proved to be difficult for some of the riders in the previous lap And the issue is that obviously the roads have mostly dried out uh where the sun’s hit them But under tree cover there are still those damp patches and if riders just go in a bit too quickly then they can easily lose the grip on the road and find themselves in some trouble But luckily Mara rolled and got through that safely So that’s one of the obstacles safely navigated and and now she can uh focus on the next bit which will be an unclassified but nonetheless quite difficult bit of climbing up to uh up to the big roundabout This year Mara Ralden’s had quite a season She had a top 10 placing at Amto gold race the first of the three Arden Classic races She’s had one pro victory in her career and a young career so far But for Mara Ralden she’s been learning and improving and progressing step by step but this is a leap Absolutely You know if she can pull this off this will undoubtedly be the biggest victory of her career Victory in a women’s world tour race is something that not that many riders ever achieve So for her to do it at the age of 21 um in you know her first year on such a big team um and her first of three confirmed years I believe that she’s got a contract with uh Picnic Post DNL This this will be a great showing for this young rider Well the team have got a talent for spotting young upand cominging talent and that’s why they developed so many riders You think of those who have come through their roster in the past and Mara Ralden is of that next generation She’s got a pretty hefty advantage over Rihanna Marcus and the chasing group the larger chasing group already And the sun is shining still the breaking blue sky and Saltburn Bank awaits for Mara Ralden There’s two very contrasting styles of riding going on here You know we see Mara Ralden and it almost looks like a bit of a fight with the bike that you know you’re you’re struggling to tell how much energy she can possibly have left whereas Rihanna Marcus looks smoother a bit more controlled a a bit calmer Um but actually looking at it she doesn’t seem to be making that much headway on the Canadian Yeah she was making inroads initially wasn’t she but now the Canadian has started to kick on And this little section of road and I know you know it well Haley is demanding You’re in the hedgerros You’re sheltered from the weather conditions and the wind but the gradients here are attritional They are and the roads are still quite sapping We’ve spoken about that quite a lot over the past two days but they really do take it out of you And and remember at this point the riders have over 100 km of racing today already in their legs So I think we can just see from the general nature of of everyone’s riding just how fatiguing it’s been When you take a look at the makeup of that chasing group you’ve got Alli Wristston a world champion on the track for FDJ Suez who’s still in the group You’ve also got Linda Reedman the German rider from Vizma Lisa by Cat Ferguson is still in the group So are the two riders from the Great Britain national team Flora Perkins and Millie Cousins They’re top riders They’re the riders with the white jerseys with the blue navy blue stripe and the red stripe down the center of the back Grace Listister is there in the lime green jersey You’ve got a couple of riders in the group from Canyon Stram Zonda Crypto One of those being Sicilia Utra Bloodvig You’ve got two riders from Saratis Pro Cycling One of those was a top 10 finisher yesterday That’s the Canadian Sarah Vanam And don’t forget about the Olympic road race champion who sits right up there in the general classification Kristen Forner of EF Education Oley Yeah Kristen Faulner doesn’t have any of her EF Education Oly teammates left with her They did a really good job early on at marshalling that break making sure that it didn’t get too much of a time advantage and the maximum time it did get was about 3 minutes So although she doesn’t have any teammates left with her now she’s experienced enough and strong enough to be able to look after herself well in the closing kilometers of this stage Just spotted Marta Yeshka as well as Quinty Ton of Lalula Jac Another one of those riders in that group is Caroline Swinkle She’s sitting third wheel And for now whilst Rihanna Marx is in pursuit of this rider Mara Ralden Anna Henderson can sit comfortably She doesn’t need to do any of the work She doesn’t need to do any of the chasing because Rihanna Marcus is making some inroads here as now our lone leader rolled and goes through 5 km to go Yeah Anna Henderson really just needs to follow the wheels and you know if uh Rihanna Marcus is kind of caught and swept back in by this chasing group then maybe Anna Henderson looks at attacking herself Uh but for now all she needs to do is follow the other riders and just you know make sure that she reserves enough energy to have a a good go at Saltburn Bank when they reach there for for the finale It’s all being left to Maui Star the riders in the white jerseys with the navy blue band around the chest It’s Fra Makai who’s the rider who’s on the front trying to close things down for Cat Ferguson Look at the way that Mara Ralden she’s emptying the tank up this climb here This is a hard one This is one of the last final clims you’ve got before you get to Salt Burn Bank and then you’ve got that burn And now we start to see a couple of riders start to accelerate up this road and try and use the road to their advantage FDJ Suez while they’re trying to capitalize off the back of Mauvestar having done the chase Can they try and use this section of road to jump across if they’ve got the legs this is what could be dangerous actually for Mara Mara Raldon because she’s been alone for a little while and the riders behind possibly if they’ve been able to take a bit of shelter but if they’ve been able to sit in the wheels they might have slightly fresher legs but I think by this stage everyone’s kind of on their last limits and Mara Ralden she’s I keep thinking that she’s maybe going to start to kind of lose some of that power and and the gaps will shrink but for now she’s holding steady This is impressive This is an incredibly impressive performance from Mara Ralden She’s throwing everything trying to take a stage victory here at the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women Look at the effort It’s been a brave performance from Ralden but it was well executed early on from the team They came here they knew they wanted to try and deliver on this stage It’s a matter of this rider trying to finish it off Absolutely They set it up incredibly well I do wonder whether she was she was plan A whether she was kind of the rider that they thought could go for the stage victory or whether she was the first one to try and that first attempt did succeed and maybe if that had failed they would have sent one of the other riders But everybody gave full commitment to making sure that one of their riders one of the riders from team picnic post NL uh did manage to attack and get a bit of a gap You know we saw Charlott Cool just falling back away from that chase group on that Queen of the Mountains climb and she’d given everything to try and make a success for her team and and lead to her team taking the stage victory We pass one of the many schools who are out in force to support the race They’ve got the banners They’ve got the bunting on the left hand side It’s still Movy Star who are on the front And I think seeing the shot and that camera shot of Rihanna Marcus I think Ralden has pulled away from the Dutch woman I think she has and you know every time that I see Mara Ralden it almost looks as though it’s the closing meters of the stage with her body language and the grimace and you can see the pressure in her arms as she grips the bars and just fights every time that the road takes an upward turn but she’s continuing to stay away and you know now she’ll she’ll have a fast descent and then it’s just salt burn between her and the finish line Ralden leans it into this lefthand corner Shaves a little bit of speed off Gets the corner right Comes out of the apex Accelerates once again out of the saddle Another injection of pace She’s attacking every inch of this course to get her benefit and and to gain as much as possible Absolutely She knows that she’s got one of the best time trialists in the world behind her So she really needs to inject the pace and then as soon as she gets up to speed she can then take a little bit of recovery before the next kind of place where she really has to take an advantage Again 3 km to go for Rald And as Marcus makes her way through 3 km to go there’s still daylight between that large chasing group What can they do when you don’t have the numerical advantage that you had earlier on the thing is I think now it’s very difficult because they’re either on a section of the course that’s going to be extremely fast like this descent where everybody’s speed is fast So it’s much more difficult to make inroads into that gap when everyone’s doing 60 km an hour or more and then they get to Saltburn and actually there’s not that much of advantage of having a teammate there It’s really going to be every woman for herself and what does each individual rider have left in their legs to get up that final 45se second climb Ralden hugs the left hand side of the road She sees the 2 km to go banner 2,000 m between Ralden taking her first women’s world tour victory Can Marcus make the junction you know what i don’t know because Saltburn is short but at that stage of the race if a rider has nothing left in their legs they can lose a lot of time in a very short amount of distance So if Marcus ends up proving that she has more energy left then she could in fact overthrow Ralden But at the moment Ralden looks like she’s holding on Maria Lynette starts to move forward as does Ali Wiston If FDJ Suez have got three riders in that chase group and it’s only now that they’ve started to move forward to try and help and to try and contribute Fletcher Makai job well done She’s giving everything to Cap Ferguson and the Dutch woman from Mauiar Can’t give anymore No absolutely Movar have done a really good job the past two days They’ve really shown that they believe in Cat Ferguson and her ability to deliver a result in this race Brilliant descending here from Mara Ralden She hooks the right hand side of the road Meanwhile Rihanna Marcus has the Canadian out of side but she’s certainly not out of mind Meanwhile the 21-year-old has 1,000 m remaining under the Flamou She sees the sea She takes the sweeping left hand bend It’s only Soap Burn Bank that awaits for the 21-year-old Mara Ralden of Picnic Post Enel She’s fighting the bike but she’s got Marcus who’s chasing behind But of course she’s done this climb once before She knows what it’s like And also she’s teammates with Fifer Georgie who’s taken two national championship victories on this very climb So she knows what is stands between her and her first ever World Tour victory It’s just whether she has the legs to deliver that Well Moto GP will be calling Mara Ralden soon because the way that she took that sweeping left hand band knee down and fighting out of the corner Look at this from the 21-year-old Canadian Picnic Post and L They came with a plan They wanted to try and execute it but to try and finish off such a brave job is another thing in itself And looking at the body language of Brianna Marcus she’s not going to be able to catch the 21-year-old No I think at this point Mara Ralden just looks like she wants it the most You can see how much she’s fighting the bike every pedal stroke is hurting her but she wants this so much This victory is going to mean so much to her and to her team And sometimes it’s that mental advantage that is actually the uh the difference between winning and and missing out on the win The crowds cheer her on on this 300 meter climb an average gradient of over 14% The fans cheer and she’s onto the plateau She can see 300 m to go ahead of her Well this has been a performance of a lifetime for Mara Ralden the 21-year-old Canadian from Picnic Post Enel They came with a plan They wanted to try and deliver and this has been exceptional No one could follow on the Queen of the Mountain and Ralden has just cemented herself as a Women’s World Tour winner She’s going to take her first Women’s World Tour victory and in some style That was incredible It was brave And they say fortune favors the brave and it’s favored Mara Ralden It’s exceptional the way that she’s ridden and nobody could do anything about it Not Olympic champions not national champions And Ralden is going to win stage two of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women here into Soulburn by the Sea Signed sealed and delivered by Picnic Post NL Behind they’re sprinting for the points They’re sprinting for the bonus seconds Rihanna Marcus holds on for second place And behind Alli Wiston in the navy blue and red is trying to sprint and take a podium finish while she gets there just beating Megan Jastrab Yeah the whole performance by team picnic poster now was impressive today and they’ve still actually uh protected their GC position as well with Megan Jastrab rolling over the line in fourth Caroline Swinkles up there in the top 10 as was Kristen Forner the USA national champion And a great reception here for the two-time winner of this race Lizzy Dagnen who is smiles of [Music] plenty Samara Ralden takes the win on stage two 12 seconds ahead of Rihanna Marcus Ali Wiston was third just ahead of Megan Jastrab And there was another good finish for Cat Ferguson in fifth The young Canadian rider claims the biggest win of her career Oh I think I was definitely seeing stars at the top of that climb there Yeah when my DS Callum in the car said there was only 10 seconds at the bottom of the hill I had a little bit of doubt but I was like “All right I just have to give it absolutely everything up here.” And uh yeah I’m really I’m really happy it paid off Kristen Falner is leading the points competition and she’s also in possession of the Queen of the Mountains jersey Cat Ferguson still leads the best young rider competition And the new leader of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain women is Kristen Falner I think um you know we we dropped both of the other GC riders um on the circuit So I think it was just raced really hard and um I think a lot of riders were isolated without teammates and that made it really hard to chase The American Rider has a 4-second lead over Rihanna Marcus Alli Wiston is third at 12 seconds and Cat Ferguson is up to fourth 14 seconds off the lead Caroline Swinkles is fifth Then Megan Jastrab heads a group of three riders at 16 seconds Well what a day of racing that was Make sure you join us again tomorrow for stage three as the tour makes its first visit to Scotland [Music] Heat Heat [Music] Heat Heat [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Welcome to day two of the 2025 Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women We’re on the northeast coast of England in the town of Hartley for the start of stage two The riders will be heading south to finish in Saltburn by the Sea and the iconic climb up Saltburn Bank with its famous hairpins That finish always provides exciting racing and we certainly got plenty of that on stage one 110 riders rolled out from Dolby Forest in Yorkshire with 81.5 km of rolling terrain ahead of them on the way to the finish on the coast in Redcar Anushka Costa led over the first Queen of the Mountains climb of the day Look at this from the Polish champion in wide though Dominica Vladek is giving Anushka Costa a good run for her money But it was on the second categorized climb at Langburn’s Bank that the race really got going Kim Laort attacked an Olympic road race champion Kristen Falner and Olympic time trial silver medalist Anna Henderson tried to go with her And it’s Kim Lort kicking things off and Anna Henderson’s trying to follow She’s attempting to try and follow the wheel The rider from Maitius was first over the top of the climb and on the descent she was joined by Falner The pair held on to their advantage through the day sprint at Newton under Rosebury But as a race headed towards a finish in red car the chasing pack were closing in fast Kim Lort goes in the white jersey Look at the way that the Olympic road race champion Forknet is trying to challenge but it’s Lord who’s got the advantage Lord has half a bike length Well she’s going to be able to take stage one Or is she oh there she takes it Kim Lord wins stage one into red core of the Lloyd’s Tour Britain women Behind is the European champion Lena Weebas who takes third Forner settles for second [Music] because of time bonuses for the first three riders across the finish Kim Lort’s lead over Kristen Faulner is 5 seconds Lorena Weebezz is third at 14 seconds Then comes Caroline Swinkles at 17 and a group of riders at 18 seconds including British riders Cat Ferguson and Millie [Music] Cousins As the riders prepared for the start of stage two in Heartley we caught up with a Great Britain cycling team to see what their goals are for the rest of the tour [Music] 114k today We’ve got two queen of the mountains So objectives as we chatted is look after Millie at all times Try and sniff out some early moves if you can Keep rotating through and if you can get a move that’s great We’ve got a little bit of local knowledge cuz I’m from this neck of the woods So the the first part of the stage is is like punctuate with narrow lanes twists and turns So although it’s flat on paper it’s still quite a tough day really going to try and protect Millie as much as we can Infiltrate the brakes early early on and just try and get an easy ride as possible within that with a view to to putting Millie in the in the front group for me Just try and save a bit of energy in the first half and then I think the final circuit is going to be really tough So just try and follow the moves to her and see how it goes Really Millie you know go with that front 19 Plenty numbers to to follow there We’ve got some strong teams We’ll keep you informed on the radio what’s in who’s in the group Um but it’s looking like a little split on that on that finish itself Yeah When they given like the numbers out yesterday Yeah It’s nice especially to be able to do it in the GB jersey and get that recognition to be able to race on home roads It’s kind of one of the only opportunities that we get So it’s really nice Racing in the UK is struggling You know it’s hard to put events on you know traffic closing city centers down etc So this is hugely important uh for a national team uh you know we’ve got a majority of pathway riders so they’ve come through the system with Hendo up there and and K you know British riders they’ve got a bit of um bit more motivation to do do a result this week so you know they’re in that front group so they’re they’re probably key riders to keep an eye on that finishing circuit The event itself is massive We get to see how our pathway is working We also like are trying to to fill our our Olympic quota So we’re looking at the you know the future It’s it’s inspiring for young kids uh for young female athletes that there’s something there to do you know and you know another sport to try So that’s huge Right here’s what the Pelaton will be facing today The Tease Valley plays host to stage two of the tour with a race covering 114.3 km from Hartley to Saltburn by the Sea After circling around Middlesborough the riders hit the first sprint of the day at Gizbbor The route then hits the climb at Masked Lane before tackling the famous hairpins of Saltburn Bank There is an intermediate sprint as a riders cross the finish line for the first time and then they repeat the loop before returning to Saltburn by the sea for the stage finish The riders are making their way to the start line in Hartley So let’s hand you over to your commentary team of Hannah Walker and Haley Simmons Stage two taking the riders from Hartley to Saltburn by the sea 114.3 km The riders are waiting eager and ready to get the stage underway It could be decisive And as you can see from the weather conditions the riders have all got their Gilelays on They’ve got the rain capes The rain is coming down but that’s not deterred the fans at the roadside We’ve got 5.2 km of neutralized section before the stage will officially get underway And you can see our leader in the green jersey Kim Lord Yesterday’s stage winner the leader of the general classification the Mussian champion with the multicord helmet Just to her left hand side in the white jersey that’s Cat Ferguson the British rider You can also just see a little sneak there of Anushka Costa with the blue jersey underneath the black Gile 107 riders continuing in the race Two riders didn’t finish yesterday including Freya Knox and Danny Bram One rider not taken to the start this morning and that’s Kate Richardson the Scottish rider from Hansling Alba Development Road Team We’ve also got one rider at the front She’s actually got a black jersey on right now She’s on the gold bike just behind the red car That’s Linda Zenetti She’s leading the red points classification jersey but there’s been several riders in front of her She’s fifth in the classification but because of the rulings Haley she’s wearing the jersey today Yeah it’s quite unique that you actually see the fifth place rider in that classification wearing the jersey I mean um you know the the current race uh leader Kim Lort Obviously she she um can’t wear all of the jerseys at once So normally that jersey would be passed to the second rider Oh there’s some It looks like some riders have gone the wrong way there and uh taken the the wrong side of the road Oh they’re rejoining Rejoining Rejoining Well they’re taking a little bit of a diversion by the looks of things One of those riders is how it is Kiara Canon They’re too busy having a chat Her and a good friend Elanora Gasparini of UA team ADQ in the white jersey Too busy having a chinwag They’ve taken a little bit of a diversion Let’s hope that they can rejoin the the race route I’m glad to see they’re in good spirits but also in the car there keeping things all neutralized They’re they’re all in good spirits as well Trying to get a bit of a head start here aren’t they sprinters eh i know they’ll be called back behind the commissair’s car in a minute Oh yeah they are uh yeah they are just apologizing there to to the commissair but no it’s quite unusual to see the fifth place rider in the classification wearing wearing the jersey but obviously Kim Lort can’t wear all of the jerseys that she earned yesterday Normally it would be Kristen Falner wearing uh the jersey in her place but she’s actually obviously got the American Champions jersey on her shoulders And then the third place rider Lena Vibes is the European champion And again that jersey takes precedence Cat Ferguson is in the young riders jersey And so it’s actually the fifth place rider Linda Zenetti who will be wearing that points jersey today Rod Ellingworth the race director is out the sunroof of the car He waves the flag They go through kilometer zero and stage two is officially underway You can see the pink jerseys of EF Education Oley are amassing towards the front And of course they’re wanting to try and protect the American the USA national champion and the Olympic road race champion Kristen Forner on a day like today because particularly with such a a start we have today you want to make sure that the the breakaway if a breakaway does go away that it’s not too strong that it’s it’s more than doable to keep under control You can also see a number of riders at the back line swinkles and we start to see one of our first riders make a move This is one of the riders from Smurfett Westrock Cycling Team in the red and black jersey Looks as though it’s Lucy Harris who’s trying to make a move It’s closely followed by a little bit of a reaction from Das Hutchinson as more riders try and float off the front here Yeah I think it big crash Big crash at the back here Haley There’s several riders down One of the riders is from the Great Britain national team and the green jerseys down The green jersey the leader of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women Kin Lord is down She looked like she took a bad knock there So um let’s keep an eye and see see if she gets back on her bike but she is uh taking some time to get up Also coming down then suffering in that crash there Jess Roberts as Tiffany keep She goes off the front now And the attacks keep coming because now there’s a reaction from Joe Tinley of Smurfett Westrog who’s trying to come up to keep Our race leader Kim Laort was involved in a crash earlier on in the stage but happily she was able to continue Before the race started we subjected her to a quickfire Q&A My name is Kim Lopinar and I write for AG in Sural What food could you not live without pasta Do you prefer cats or dogs dogs Would you rather be too hot or too cold too cold What was the last song you listened to one step at a time What other sport are you good at soccer Your favorite place to go on holiday botswana or Maitius uh what was your best subject at school sports What was your worst subject at school french Favorite word in another language what dish do you cook best a good pasta dish Yeah Who or what makes you laugh the most my friends my husband Best bit of advice for young riders or young athletes Ah um never stop believing Always aim high If you’re going through a hard time just know that a lot of people do go through hard times and it will get better It’s always light at the end of the tunnel Our three leaders in the breakaway have 1 kilometer to go until they get to the first intermediate sprint of the day into Gizbbor On the front it’s Tiffany Kee the rider who kicked things off earlier on this morning in the blue and green jersey of Das Hutchinson in the red and black It’s Lucy G of Smurfett Westrock racing team And then from Hansling Alba Development Road team that’s Maddie Leech in the blue and pink fade with the blue oversho sprint Don’t forget points are available for that red points classification and bonus seconds And the weather Haley Simmons has completely changed from this morning I know So I think the riders will be thankful for that We did see a lot of wet roads and riders with uh multiple layers on this morning and now mostly the rain jackets have come off and and the roads in the most part look to be dry which will make the finale a lot safer The time gap that these three riders have had has been over 3 minutes at one point Everything behind in this Pelaton has been controlled by around six different teams but right now it’s Movar in those white jerseys who have come to the four because they’re wanting to try and protect their best young rider and that’s Cat Ferguson one of the best British riders too coming into this intermediate sprint into the market town of Gizbbor It’s Lucy Gad on the front in the red jersey Tiffany Keep is getting herself set up and ready to try and take these points and try and take these bonus seconds And it’s Keith the South African who goes on the far right hand side made a big acceleration Now Gad starts to make an acceleration and tries to react but it’s all but too late Tiffany Kee takes the 10 points She takes the three bonus seconds Gad taking second And here we see the replay Yeah it looks like Maddie Leech maybe didn’t have anything to give She unfortunately had to have a bike change earlier got gapped a little bit and then had to work her way back to her two breakaway compatriots Um so potentially her legs are just a little bit done and she couldn’t contest for that sprint The chase from the Pelaton is coming through Gizbbor there about to approach that intermediate sprint Raqueli Barbieri in the indigo and orange jersey for picnic pastel down the center of the road in the white jersey That’s one of the Spanish riders Ruith Perez from Mauiar But the chase right now is all on to try and chase these two down Tiffany Ke takes the 10 points and the taking seven and two bonus seconds Matty Leech with the five points and one bonus seconds with Barbary taking the three The one point going to Ruith Perez Tiffany Ke and Lucy Gad are working well together in this breakaway Meanwhile the third rider who was initially in the breakaway Malich is caught by the pelaton That time gap now at 1 minute Yeah you can really see the intention of the chasers behind And uh that time gap which was 3 minutes at it at its greatest is now only a minute And I think uh this is the beginning of the end for the breakaway We’re about to approach the first queen of the mountain of the day That’s Mar Lane And you can see the profile that the riders have to contend with in the final 35 km Our breakaway duo goes through the bottom of this Queen of the Mountain 33.6 km to go It’s only a 1.9 km climb but these gradients are pretty brutal towards the top part of this Queen of the Mountain I think as well these closing kind of 35 km of the stage Although there are only the two categorized climbs you’ve also got two ascents of Saltburn Ba Bank and then there are numerous other climbs on this course that aren’t categorized but will just kind of all accumulate together to really sap the energy from the legs Karacone moves her way forward in the pink jersey as does Sila Utra Bloodvig Canyon Stram Zonda Krypto Little Tracker amassing themselves up towards the front in on the right hand side in the red blue and yellow jerseys Emma Noskar Burg and Loretta Hansen No sign of the green jersey yet but I can see some of the jerseys further back Those dark blue jerseys of AG Sudal That would uh indicate that their race leader Kim Lort is somewhere in here But hopefully she’s not suffering too much from that earlier crash and she’ll be feeling okay when we hit this climb This climb has an average of 5.4% 4% And when you take a look at the lower part of this climb it’s not too severe It’s when we get to those final 500 meters where you see gradients of 11 12 13% Here comes the arrival of the USA National Road Race Champion in the Stars and Stripes with the pink helmet She’s got a nice cadence keeping things pretty calm Now starts to as more riders start to move forward including one rider from UA Team ADQ You get the sense here There’s a bit of tension Everybody’s waiting for this hard section of the climb because they know fireworks can start Absolutely I think it’s really important for the riders to be at the front because it gives them an opportunity to react to any attacks that go but also it gives them more slipping room If you’re right at the front and uh riders start to struggle then um you know you’ve got a bit further to fall before you actually lose contact with the back of the group Well they’ve gone across the crossroads through 500 meters until they crest the top of this Queen of the Mountain here on Mask Lane And look at how steep this climb is And Tiffany Keep well she was the rider who was decisive at the start of the stage She was the rider who forced the breakaway to go And Lucy Gad is having a hard time at trying to follow the rider from South Africa But Ke is making this look easy She’s got a nice cadence She’s right within a rhythm but she’s making light work I think it’s actually really key here to just choose the correct gear Try and stay seated if you can because it’s a little bit more efficient Maybe get out the saddle to kick over the really steep bits but just try and find the gear that you can comfortably ride up this climb and just keep pushing on And I think it is inevitable that these chasers behind are going to catch these riders But you know the smoother that she can be the best opportunity she’ll give herself Behind the pace is elevated Anka Costa in the blue jersey of Unoax Mobility has started to move forward She wants to try and take some points in this Queen of the Mountain Don’t forget it’s a categorized one climb so big points are on offer 10 points for the first rider to crest the top and points are available for the first 10 riders in total But now they’re starting to close on in to our two riders out front I think with the features that are left um at the back end of this stage the fact that the riders um are all going to be fighting for those general classification positions means that any gaps that are still remaining are going to be closed quite quickly with the accelerations that are coming from the chasers Keep still managing to hold on Lucy Gad right now is finding herself in some difficulty And it’s incredible how quickly this Pelaton has closed on in on our breakaway duo They’ve closed a minute’s gap and this is around what 20 seconds currently to Tiffany keep But she’s well within a rhythm She’s got gritted teeth fighting to try and take the maximum points on this Queen of the Mountain I think if she can continue riding this consistent rhythm and get over the top of the climb as as we’ve just seen her do then maybe she’ll have a chance to sneak into this group when they do eventually catch her It looks as though Lucy G is going to manage to hold on for second place over this Queen of the Mountain Or is she well look at that acceleration from Anuska Costa She comes through and steals those points off Lucy Gad And that’s exactly what Anuska Costa was looking for She wants to try and get herself into that jersey by the end of the day but she’s continuing to ride And Dominica Vladk in the white jersey here the Polish champion is continuing to kick things on She was really impressive to watch yesterday and she’s clearly feeling good Vladek did take fourth place taking seven points Ralden taking the six points Forner taking five with Henderson with four Utra Bloodvig taking three Webiz with the two Jere taking the one point in that first queen of the mountain Still one lone leader out front Tiffany Ke has a small advantage over the chasers behind But we’re starting to see the race shift and change now with select favorites and big names in this chasing group here Yeah absolutely And you know there are going to be quite a lot of gaps that will have opened on that climb And to be honest the features now come thick and fast Um there are some unclassified climbs that the riders will have to face now before they reach Saltburn And then of course they’ve got to tackle this category 1 climb all over again It’s quite technical in places between here and Saltburn Bank Particularly when you go through the countryside you’ve got a fast descent down the other side You’ve got a lot of undulation unclassified climbs which could be used as a launch pad to try and make moves try and create new gaps and new breakaways Yeah absolutely And especially because a lot of the climbs actually come off the back of quite fast descents And so if the Pelaton is strung out um and then they attack the climbs hard then the gaps are just going to grow Um and what we’re seeing now is that Tiffany Keep is finally being reeled in by the Pelaton And I think these will be her final few moments of uh of time up the road by herself Whatever happens here for Tiffany keep the South African from D Hutchinson It’s been a tremendous ride She’s been strong She’s shown herself out front and she’s shown herself shown her team what she’s capable of And meanwhile Lalula Jacob send Amber Pate up the road in this purple jersey Immediately counterattacks are starting to fly and go off the front And Visma Lisa Bike in the yellow jerseys have taken up the chase at the front Could we see a new breakaway now as the race makes its way south we caught up with a Minister for the Future of Roads Lillian Greenwood MP at the finish in Saltburn It’s so important to uh have events like this to inspire the next generation particularly of women and girls uh to get on their bikes We know uh it’s great for the nation’s uh health It enables people to have that opportunity to get involved in exercise but also the practical thing of getting on a bike and being able to uh go places I’m here as the roads minister Obviously one of the things I’m really proud that we’re doing nationally investing an extra 500 million pounds this year uh on fixing the roads because of course you need smooth safe roads to get people out on bikes We know it puts people off if they think they’re going to hit a pothole or have to swerve to avoid one How important do you think events like this the Lloyds Tour of Britain are to inspire the next generation oh I think it’s it’s fabulous Uh I met some of the young women who are here today who are watching this and thinking that could be them in the future Of course not everyone’s going to be an elite uh racer that the important thing is that everyone can ride a bike We want everyone to benefit from the opportunities of um you know just in having a bit more activity in your life what it does for your mental health what it does for your physical health It’s a great thing into Saltburn Bank It’s Lizzie Dyden the former world champion who’s leading Little Trek into the bottom of this severe climb Don’t forget our next intermediate sprint is coming up and it’ll be the first passage of the line with 18.7 km remaining Now she starts to wind it up and there was a crash earlier on with 27 km to go Weebiz was caught up Fem Marcus her teammate also Anna Mar Morris came down We expected Weebiz to be in that front group and we wondered where she was But this now explains everything The European champion is down but certainly not out No it’s going to be difficult at this point for her to get back on terms with the pace that’s been injected at the front by Lizzie Dagen and really you can just see how the riders in this front group are strung out And at this point in the race I don’t think the pace is going to let up at all and I don’t think these gaps are going to close again Cap Ferguson in the white jersey sitting in second wheel And in the yellow it’s the 19-year-old youngster Image and Wolf in the yellow jersey for Vizma Lisa Bike Lizzy Dyen though is the rider who’s dishing out all of the pain to these riders Just take a look at the grimaces and the shoulders rocking and rolling Charlotte is a little bit further back with gritted teeth But here’s the arrival of Kristen Forner the USA National Champion Don’t forget bonus seconds are on offer and she’s the closest challenger in the general classification right now Absolutely And you talk about the grimaces on the faces but actually Kristen Faulner looks under control She looks smooth she looks calm and she looks like she’s actually uh very well positioned to take some points and some bonus seconds at the top of this climb She’s come into this race stating that this kind of course suits her well across the four stages given the fact that the climbs are short steep it suits her attributes and character as a rider And right now she’s in a very controlling position and everybody else is having to react But here comes the move from behind And it’s Anna Henderson the Olympic silver medalist of Little Trek who’s looking to try and take the points looking to try and take the bonus second She’s currently being challenged by Caroline Swinkles Kristen Forner It was a late reaction but she’s trying to come through but so is the white jersey cap Ferguson A throw for the line Well try and separate them A photo finish between Ferguson and Forner You can really see how much these bonus seconds mean to this rider With such close margins uh being known to affect the overall outcome of this race it really does uh pay dividends to put in that extra effort Well it was indeed Forner who took the 10 points Ferguson taking seven Swinkles with the five Henderson settling for three and it was Ralden who picked up the one but crucially Forner got three bonus seconds there Absolutely And uh you know these these bonus seconds could be crucial There are more still to get on tomorrow’s stage and the final stage into Glasgow too Into the second and final Queen of the Mountain of the Day Picnic Post and Al in those indigo and orange jerseys This is almost like a team time trial They’re in a commanding position right now and they’ve got a plan They’ve got five riders Charlotte Cole comes through They’ve got Megan Jastra They’ve also got Mara Ralden Josie Nelson and Esme Pepperc They’re all trying to work well together And meanwhile there’s a number of riders who have found themselves off the back including Bani in the white jersey for Mauiar Another one of those riders is Margot Vi as well as number 13 and that’s Alanora Gasparini I think the formation of the riders from the team picnic post NL squad uh indicates that they’ve they’ve got a plan here They want to do something in the closing kilometers of this stage So it’ll be interesting to see exactly um how they tackle this next Queen of the Mountains climb What’s apparent to me they’re all working
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What a monumental solo to watch ! riveted to the end, great commentary 🍺