Lorena Wiebes strengthened her Tour of Britain Women lead with a second straight stage victory in Blackpool.

The SD Worx-Protime sprinter won stage two from Clitheroe after officials halted racing because of a road traffic accident ahead on the route. The interruption came after 35km of racing, and the stage later resumed with 66km remaining.

Wiebes launched her sprint with 250 metres to go on the seafront, driving into a headwind. She held off Maggie Coles-Lyster of Human Powered Health and Kim Le Court-Pienaar of AG Insurance-Soudal.

The Dutch rider celebrated with a peace sign at the line after another controlled finish from SD Worx-Protime. The result gave her a 17th victory of the season.

Tour of Britain Women lead grows before Great Orme test

Wiebes now leads the general classification by 14 seconds over Chiara Consonni of Canyon-SRAM. Le Court-Pienaar sits on the same time as Consonni in third place.

The race heads next to an uphill finish on the Great Orme, where the overall picture should change. Wiebes has built her advantage through back-to-back sprint wins, after also winning the opening two stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift earlier this month.

Stage two began with disruption even before racing fully opened. A blockage on the roads out of Clitheroe caused a half-hour delay in wet conditions.

The peloton then rode the first 7.7km under neutralised conditions on alternative roads. Riders rejoined the planned route at around 20km, before the 3.3km categorised climb of Waddington Fell.

Alberte Greve of Uno-X Mobility and Marta Jaskulska of Human Powered Health attacked early in pursuit of QOM points. The bunch caught them shortly before the summit, where SD Worx-Protime rider Steffi Häberlin took maximum points.

Uno-X Mobility tried again before the second categorised climb, Nick o’ Pendle. Katrine Aalerud went clear alone, but officials stopped the stage near the top because of the road traffic accident further ahead.

Riders waited on the road in the rain, wearing jackets handed over by team staff. The stoppage lasted around half an hour, while the wider delay to racing reached about an hour.

Officials restarted the stage behind the lead race vehicle. They neutralised both the QOM on Nick o’ Pendle and the intermediate sprint in Whalley.

Aalerud then received the chance to restore her 50-second advantage. Racing resumed with 66km to go, and the Norwegian stayed away for another 23km.

As the route pushed toward the Lancashire coast, the peloton reeled her in. Pfeiffer Georgi of Picnic PostNL, Alice Towers of Great Britain, and Alessia Vigilia of Uno-X Mobility all attacked.

Nineteen-year-old Oda Aune Gissinger then found a stronger move in the rain. The Hitec Products-Fluid Control rider built a 50-second gap with 10km remaining.

Gissinger’s junior time trial pedigree helped her hold the bunch at bay. She won bronze in the junior road race world championship time trial last year.

The sprint teams then increased the pace along the coast. They cut her advantage in half over four kilometres, before catching her inside the final 5km.

Canyon-SRAM, UAE Team L’IMAD and Lidl-Trek all pushed forward for their sprinters. SD Worx-Protime delivered the most effective lead-out, setting Wiebes up for another clear win.

Stage two top 10

• 1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, 3:29:26
• 2. Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can), Human Powered Health, same time
• 3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus), AG Insurance-Soudal, same time
• 4. Nienke Veenhoven (Ned), Visma-Lease a Bike, same time
• 5. Lara Gillespie (Irl), UAE Team L’IMAD, same time
• 6. Chiara Consonni (Ita), Canyon-SRAM, same time
• 7. Clara Copponi (Fra), Lidl-Trek, same time
• 8. Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned), Uno-X Mobility, same time
• 9. Ally Wollaston (NZl), FDJ United-Suez, same time
• 10. Juliana Londoño (Col), Picnic PostNL, same time

General classification after stage two

• 1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, 7:32:15
• 2. Chiara Consonni (Ita), Canyon-SRAM, +14s
• 3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus), AG Insurance-Soudal, same time
• 4. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned), UAE Team L’IMAD, +15s
• 5. Josie Nelson (GBr), Picnic PostNL, +16s

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