Roldan wins stage two as Faulkner takes overall lead

Mara Roldan of Canada won stage two of the second-stage competition for the Tour of Britain Women while American leader Kristen Faulkner donned the leader’s green jersey.

Roldan, age 21, of Team Picnic-Post NL made the short, steep descent into Saltburn with only 14 kilometers to go before breaking away.

Cat Ferguson, 19, placed just 14 seconds down in the overall classification, placed fifth for the second day in a row.

Ferguson, who is a member of the Movistar World Tour team and is regarded as one of the sport’s most promising athletes, still wears the white young rider’s jersey.

After the peloton split on the final circuit, which included the grueling category one climbs on Saltburn bank, Rolden finished the stage just ahead of Riejanne Markus of Lidl-Trek’s pursuer, Riejanne Markus, and a small group, including Ferguson.

Overall, EF Education-Oatly’s champion road racer Faulkner leads Markus by four seconds over EF Education-Oatly.

The green jersey wearer Kim le Court of AG Insurance-Soudal hit the tarmac with two other riders after just one kilometer of a frantic official start in sweltering conditions at Hartlepool Docks, and it took several minutes before gingerly returning to the peloton.

Stage One winner from Thursday now sits 21st in the GC after Saltburn’s close call of nearly three minutes.

As the race moved down the coast, there were a number of shaky moments, including a busy day for the British Continental CJ O’Shea team, which had to change bikes and suffer separate front and rear punctures for their riders.

Results from Stage Two

1. Mara Roldan (Can/Team Picnic-PostNL) 2 hrs 57 mins 38 secs

2. Riejanne Markus (Ned/Lidl-Trek) + 12secs

3. Ally Wollaston (Aus/FDJ-Suez) + 18secs

4. Same time, Megan Jastrab (USA/Team Picnic-PostNL).

5. Ferguson (GB/Movistar Team)

6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned/UAE-Team ADQ)

7. (Den/Canyon Sram-Zondacrypto) Cécilie Uttrup-Ludwig

8. Can/Ceratizit’s Sarah Van Dam

9. (USA/EF Education-Oatly) Kristen Faulkner

10, Quinty Ton (Ned/Liv AlUla-Jayco) + 22secs

After stage two, classification generally accepted

1. Kristen Faulkner (USA/EF Education-Oatly) 4hrs 57mins 3secs

2. Riejanne Markus (Ned/Lidl-Trek) + 4secs

3. 12secs for Ally Wollaston (Aus/FDJ-Suez).

4. Cat Ferguson (GB/Movistar Team) + 14 seconds

5. Kevin Swinkels (Ned/UAE Team ADQ) + 14 seconds

6. Megan Jastrab (USA/Team Picnic-PostNL) + 16 seconds

7. Same time as Sarah Van Dam (Can/Ceratizit).

8. (Den/Canyon Sram-Zondacrypto) Cécilie Uttrup-Ludwig

9. Quinty Ton (Ned/Liv AlUla-Jayco) + 20 seconds

10. Same time as Anne Henderson (GB/Lidl-Trek).