Kasia Niewiadoma sprinted to fourth place in today’s stage two at La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour es. The stage was marred by several crashes within the final three kilometres, which saw the expected bunch sprint contested by a reduced group who were able to best position themselves out of trouble. 

Kasia’s teammate Antonia Niedermaier hit the ground in one of the crashes, and Ricarda Bauernfeind was also held up. All three riders were awarded the same time on the finish line and moved into stage three, sitting at +17 seconds in the general classification.

An early six-rider breakaway was caught after 67km as the peloton hit the bottom slopes of the only classified climb on today’s 118 km-long stage. Before the climb, Zoe Bäckstedt had paced Maike van der Duin back to the peloton, but the pair lost contact before the summit as Visma Lease a Bike paced the climb to shell many sprinters. As the peloton raced to the finish in Moncofa, the skies opened, and a downpour of rain caused wet and slippery roads for the sprint. Kasia, ever-present at the front of the peloton was able to avoid all crashes and sprinted to a strong fourth place, narrowly missing the bonus seconds on offer. 

Antonia finished in 86th place, but on the same time as the winner, keeping her in the lead of the Best Young Rider award that will be awarded only at the end of the eight-day tour.

RIDER REACTIONS

Kasia Niewiadoma: “Due to the weather conditions, today’s stage was more hectic and dangerous than physically demanding. It felt like we were mostly going downhill with a lot of speed and tailwind, and the only obstacle was the 5km climb that caused a split in the peloton.”

“Together with Antonia and Rica, we stayed close to the front and got through most of the race safely. The last 3km were chaotic, with many crashes. In some ways, I enjoyed embracing the craziness that allowed me to find myself in a position where I could fight for some bonus seconds that I narrowly missed at the finish line. Hopefully, everyone who went down is okay.”

HOW TO WATCH

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es can be followed on X with #LaVueltaFemenina. The official broadcasters are RTVE, NOS, Floikes, RTVC Señal, Eurosport, Sky Sport, RTBF, TV2, Peacock, Supersport, SBS, ESPN, SSC, and JSPORTS.

Stage 3 | 130.5km | Tuesday 30 April | Lucena/Llucena – Teruel | Start 13:35CEST | Broadcast 15:30CEST.

Stage 4 | 142.5km | Wednesday 1 May | Molina de Aragon – Zaragoza | Start 13:50CEST | Broadcast 15:30CEST.

Stage 5 | 114km | Thursday 2 May | Huesca – Jaca | Start 14:05CEST | Broadcast 15:30CEST.

Stage 6 | 132.5km | Friday 3 May | Tarazona – La Laguna Negra. Vinuesa | Start 13:30CEST | Broadcast 15:30CEST.

Stage 7 | 139km | Saturday 4 May | San Esteban de Gormaz – Sigenza | Start 12:55CEST | Broadcast 14:30CEST.

Stage 8 | 89.5km | Sunday 5 May | Distrito Telefonica – Valdesquí­. Comunidad de Madrid | Start 10:50CEST | Broadcast 12:00CEST.

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