Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain Women was a good day for the northernmost regions of North America.
Yukon native Mara Roldan stole away 14km from the line to the stage, while Alaskan Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) became the new race leader and goes into the last two stages in Scotland holding the green jersey.
Faulkner had been second on stage 1, narrowly beaten in a two-woman sprint by Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal). However, Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion Le Court was held up by a crash on the finishing circuit around Saltburn-by-the-Sea, putting the US and Olympic champion into pole position to move into the green jersey.
“My team was really good in the first half of the race, just keeping me safe at the front. Once the circuit came, it was just a race of attrition,” Faulkner said after the finish.
“We dropped some of the GC leaders, which was great, and it allowed me to finish with the jersey.”
After the crash by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) split the peloton with Le Court caught on the wrong side, Faulkner led the first group up Saltburn Bank with a lap to go and was first at the finish line to take three valuable bonus seconds.
On the finishing climb, Faulkner led the charge behind escapees Roldan and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek).
However, she was overtaken by stronger sprinters on the finishing straight, rolling across the line in ninth place with the chase group behind the two leaders, 18 seconds off Roldan.
“It was a tough circuit, and I think a lot of people were really fighting to stay in the race. I felt really good on the last climb, both times up it,” Faulkner said.
“I was towards the front at the top, but then there was the long straight before the finish, and I got caught there. I liked it, it was kind of the perfect one-minute power.”
Faulkner, who now also holds the red points jersey and blue queen of the mountains jersey, heads into stage 3 in the Scottish Borders with a GC lead of four seconds on Markus. Third-place finisher on the stage, Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez), lies in third at 12 seconds.
