Cédrine Kerbaol storms to Vuelta glory with a perfect late attack

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl-Trek), whose results have come almost exclusively against the clock since she turned professional, animated the race from early in the stage. 

The Australian attacked inside the opening 14km with Sterre Vervloet (Lotto Intermarché Ladies), and the pair carved out a maximum advantage of just over four minutes by the halfway point of the day.

Vervloet was the first to crack, with the Belgian dropping out of the break and being reabsorbed by the peloton as the pace behind increased. Wilson-Haffenden chose to push on alone, but the two-minute gap she carried into the final 50km was steadily eroded by a peloton in which Team Visma | Lease a Bike, UAE Team ADQ and Uno-X Mobility had begun sharing pacing duties.

The brunt of the chase, however, was carried by FDJ United-SUEZ, who were defending Koch’s red jersey. The German had inherited the race lead in unusual circumstances the day before, when previous leader Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) abandoned after crashing in the peloton with 12km of stage 2 remaining. 

Just six seconds separated the top of the GC overnight, with Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) both at four seconds.

Wilson-Haffenden was caught with 15 kilometres to go, before the stage exploded as numerous riders tried to break clear in the punchy finale. The accelerations reduced the peloton to around 25 riders.

Koch felt the force of the pace and was briefly dropped into the second group, but that group managed to make it back to the front after cooperation stalled ahead.

Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) then launched a solo attack with 11 kilometres to go, using a brief descent to build a slim advantage over the chasing group. She was eventually brought back, seemingly setting up a reduced sprint to the line.

Instead, Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) shot off the front with 2 kilometres to go after strong work from teammate Alice Towers. The Frenchwoman quickly opened a significant gap over a group that had run out of momentum. Kerbaol held on to take the second Grand Tour stage win of her career, giving EF Education-Oatly a second stage victory at the 2026 Vuelta España Femenina after a rollercoaster opening few days. 

The team had started the race with Noemi Rüegg taking victory and the red jersey on stage 1, only for the Swiss rider to crash out of the race while leading the GC on stage 2.

“It feels really strange,” Kerbaol said after the finish. “We’ve been riding amazingly as a team these past few days. I don’t think we’ve ever performed as well as we are now. We live with Noemi, she took red, that was fucking crazy. But yesterday she crashed, so we went from an absolute high to an absolute low.”

“Now we have another high,” she continued. “We are thinking a lot about her. It is a real mix of emotions. This one is for the team, and I have to thank all my teammates.”