‘At first I thought oh no this was too early’ – How Noemi Rüegg snagged the Willunga Women’s Tour Down Under victory

At the beginning of the second ascent of Willunga Hill on stage 2 of the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under, all eyes may have been on two key favourites with the early attack of Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) quickly followed by Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) but EF Education-Oatly’s Noemi Rüegg was not far behind, biding her time.

“I went into the climb in a good position, and they actually accelerated from the bottom, and there I had a little gap, so I couldn’t immediately follow,” Rüegg told reporters post-stage.