As it happened: Swiss champion wins Women's Tour Down Under as stage 3 ends in sprint

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 3 of the Women's Tour Down Under.

"At first, I thought, ‘Oh no, this was too early; I can’t keep going like this,’ but then I looked back, and I had a gap, so I had no other choice" – Noemi Rüegg explains her big Willunga Hill victory on stage 2.

Stage 2 winner Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) tops the general classification with a 15-second lead on Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) and 33 seconds on Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility). Polish champion Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) sits in fourth place, 36 seconds down and only one second ahead of trio Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), Neve Bradbury (Canyon-Sram zondacrypto)and Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez).

Rüegg also leads the points classification, with 3 points on stage 1 winner Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT), and 8 points Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez). With two intermediate sprints and points at the finish, the battle for the Sprint jersey should be a hot one today.

Wlodarczyk tops the mountain classification, with a slim 1-point lead on Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia). Two QOM sprints on the menu in the final stage.

Eleonora Ciabocco (Picnic PostNL) leads the best young rider classification, with 10 seconds on Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco).

Image 1 of 1

Race leader Noemi Rüegg  signing in for the final day of racing, and it's a hot one! 

Stage 3 of the Women's Tour Down Under is set to start in about 10 minutes On tap is constant undulation with barely a moment of flat terrain in the 25km circuit for a total of 105.9km stage in Stirling. The loop includes the Stirling climb, which stretches over two kilometres and reaches a maximum gradient of 11.1%, though its average is a far milder 3.7%.  The riders will tackle the climb five times.

All the riders are tucked in their air-conditioned mini-buses before the start, and the ice vests are out. Temperature has already hit 35C in central Adelaide and while it may just be a little cooler among the hills of Stirling it still feels every bit of that with a sting in the morning sun.

"I think it's a hard course to defend a jersey on," Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) said. "I think that will be quite difficult. I expect to see very aggressive riding. I'm sure we're going to be aggressive, and I think it's going to be really exciting. I certainly think the gaps are not huge on GC so I don't think it's really set in stone yet."

Read more in Willunga is not necessarily the GC decider for the Women's Tour Down Under with all to play for in Stirling finale.

The final stage in Stirling is bound to be a cracker. 

Race director Stuart O’Grady asking the riders to ease off in the short neutral zone, and he's waiting to drop the flag. 

Flag drop and racing has started! 

Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco) at the head of the peloton, speed is already high.

Peloton all together as they are descending away from Stirling. Race leader Rüegg sitting behind her teammate Maeve Plouffe in the peloton.

Lidl-Trek, Liv AlUla Jayco, EF Education-Oatly and Ceratizit-WNT are all represented at the front of the peloton, still grouped together

Led by Liv AlUla Jayco, the riders speeding down the road, with a few riders having trouble staying in the tight peloton with 93km to go.

90km to go

Peloton all together. Teams are sticking together on the undulating, windy road waiting in anticipation for an attack.

Road has started to go up, but we’re not officially on the Stirling climb. We’re about 3km to the QOM, a good launching point for an attack.

Ruby Roseman-Gannon is at her team car with a race radio issue. Seems to be fixed now and she'll be chasing back.

The QOM battle between Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ)  and Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia) who are separated by a slim 1 point is heating up with 0.7km to the top.

Field spread across the road with UAE at the front. 

Polites trying to squeeze her through to the front. 

UAE opens up the sprint without Wlodarczyk as Polites takes a few points - she may have been third - and goes on the attack. 

UAE teammates were looking over her shoulder looking for Wlodarczyk when they crossed the QOM line. Polites actually took fourth and is now tied with Wlodarczyk in the QOM classification, and on count back, it is still Wlodarczyk leading with one QOM to come on the fourth lap.

Polites missed her bottle in the feedzone. Tough one on a hot day. Peloton all together with 82km to go.

QOM #1 results

1. Karlijn Swinkels  (UAE Team ADQ)
2. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ)
3. Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek)
4. Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia)

Tiffany Cromwell getting an ice sock and a musette at the Canyon-Sram team car. 

“This is our home race. It's an Australian team, so we want to come here to win," Liv AlUla Jayco's co-DS Jess Allen told Cyclingnews before the start. 

"And we knew Silke was going to have ripper form coming in to here and we were targeting this with her so yesterday was a phenomenal ride by her and today we just want to make sure we secure that second place on GC and if we can try and make it one better, we will.”

Attack by Ceratizit-WNT with 71km to go 

Counter by Niamh Fisher-Black, causing an immediate reaction in the peloton.

Neve Bradbury, Silke Smulders mark the move immediately along with more riders. The Fisher-Black acceleration is hurting the legs of a lot of riders. 

70km to go

Attack by ARA Australia's Lauren Bates bringing more riders with her.  And the next to attack is Ruth Edwards.

Lauretta Hanson at the front, watching behind her. And an attack by Ella Simpson who gets a small gap.

Ella Simpson is pushing forwards with Lauren Bates trying to bridge up. Bates crashed yesterday and is bandaged up.

Ella Simpson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93) has a small gap, and is out of sight from the peloton on the windy road. Lauren Bates (ARA Australia) is still chasing. 

With 68km to go, Simpson has 42 seconds on the field. Bates is stuck in no-mans land.

Bates is losing time to Simpson, as the peloton seems happy to let Simpson go, and she now has a minute on the field. 

5km to the first intermediate sprint with points and time bonus seconds on the line. 

Simpson starts the next lap with a gap of 1:27 to the field. Bates is still in between, 41 sec behind the lone breakaway.

Simpson takes the 3 points, and the 3 seconds time bonus at the first intermediate sprint. While Liv takes the front to try and get the remaining bonus seconds.

Next attack by Tiffany Cromwell goes, followed by Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Sarah Van Dam. Back together.

Counter attack by Maike van der Duin with Fisher-Black covering the move, forcing a reaction in the peloton.

All the attacking has reduced the advantage for Simpson down to 24 seconds with 58km to go.

Mechanical for Georgia Baker at the back. She raises her right hand up to get her team for a rear flat tyre. Fairly long wheel change as a group of dropped riders go by.

Results of the first intermediate sprint:

1. Ella Simpson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93)
2. Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurange-Soudal)
3. Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ)

Commissaires keeping a close eye on Baker as she makes her way through the convoy. And she is back in the peloton.

Simpson is still off the front with a gap of 30 seconds.

The Australian showed great form at the National Championships where she finished second after making it into the winning break.

50km to go

Simpson is still committed to the break, and as the peloton slowed down for the feedzone, she grew her gap to 1:29 seconds.

Meanwhile at the back, Bates found fans to give her musette after doing her domestique duties.

Simpson still looking smooth at the front with a 2-minute lead on the field. UNO-X riders getting ice socks from their teammate, many riders have the ice socks on a scorcher of a day!

Peloton goes around a roundabout with a few riders jumping the curb, with EF Education-Oatly setting the pace at the front for race leader Rüegg.

Ella Simpson sees 2 laps to go as she has a gap of 2:03 on the field making her the virtual leader on the road. She was 1:51 down in GC after stage 2.

1km to go to the second intermediate sprint, and final chance to get bonus seconds before the finish line.

Liv AlUla Jayco at the front, setting up to get bonus seconds with FDJ also moving up. 

Once again, Steigenga took second, 1:21 after Simpson took top points at the second intermediate sprint. 

Hanson is upping the pace at the front, stringing out the peloton. 

Spratt goes off the front with Baker marking the move. Gap is coming down quickly. 

Canyon-Sram taking over the aggressive pace. Kim Cadzow looks to be struggling off the back, a big loss for race leader Rüegg.

37km to go

Simpson is caught, and the peloton is all back together.

Race leader Rüegg is isolated with 34km to go.  Her teammates Cadzow, and Armitage are at the back.

Hanson goes again at the front, and Spratt counters, causing a split in the peloton.

FDJ and EF are closing down the small gap caused by Spratt's attack.

Rüegg has her teammate Sarah Roy with her to help her in the peloton as Emily Watts attacks.

After a flurry of attacks, it's all back together with 29km to go.

And Spratt goes again! Van De Velde responds and gets on her wheel quickly, forcing Roy to lead the chase.

Roy swung off, forcing Rüegg to lead the chase with Smulders' teammates on her wheel.

At the start, race leader Rüegg told the crowd, "I still don't really know what kind of rider type I am, so now I think I'm just a bit of an all-rounder, so I try to do well in everything and just give my best in every stage."

Cadzow made her way back to her team leader Rüegg as the peloton number has been drastically reduced with 27km to go.

Bradbury moving up in the field. And former winner Edwards attacks! Rüegg doing the work herself again to close the gap.

25km to go

Peloton all together as we are heading to the QOM #2, as Wlodarczyk is marking Polites. 

A bit of a breather in the peloton as dropped riders catch back on with 2.7km to go before the final QOM.

Wlodarczyk and Polites are side by side each with a teammate in front of her. 

Peloton split in 2 across the road, hugging either the left or ride side with 0.5km to QOM.

Frain opens up early with 300 metres to go with Polites on her wheel followed by Wlodarczyk. Polites waits before starting her sprint, and crosses the line ahead of Wlodarczyk to take the QOM classification.

Polites continues with Wlodarczyk at the front into the feedzone.

20km to go

Peloton all together. A final respite before the chaotic finale. 

Teammates talking to each other, getting the final plan together for the finale. Teams are organizing and waiting for next flurry of attacks.

Another attack by Cromwell, with three riders joining her including Le Net and Barbieri.

The attack is shut down. And Canyon-Sram counters immediately. 

And it's Van der Duin's turn to go off the front with more riders joining the move inside of 15km to go.

Van der Duin is pushing the pace, getting a gap on a small chase group with the reduced peloton behind. 

Van der Duin is solo with 21 seconds with 11km to go, committing to the breakaway. No reaction from the peloton quite yet. 

And it's all back together as AG Insurance brings Van de Diun back. 

Riders are ditching the bottles, lightening the load with 8.2km to go. Cromwell takes over the front and once again ups the pace.

Hanson putting the pressure at the front once again, as Cromwell pulls off and drops to the back. Roy, Rüegg's teammate, is also dropped.

Rüegg is sitting behind Ghekiere in the top third of the peloton. 

New Zealand champion Ella Wylie attacks with 6.6km to go

Uphill all the way to the finish line as riders are barely hanging on in the back including 2nd on the best young rider Emily Dixon supported by her teammate Polites.

Wylie, a teammate of Smulders who is second on GC, is pushing forward, forcing the other teams to chase her.

Wylie has 10 seconds with 4.5km to go.

Eleonora Ciabocco, leader of best young rider classification, is still in the peloton as Dixon is dropped.

And Wylie is reeled back in with 3.4km to go.

Teams with numbers coming to the front - UAE, Canyon and Liv.

Attack has caused a split in the peloton with 1.7km to go, and the pace backs off slightly.

1 km to go as AG Insurance takes up the front. 

Dygert opens up her sprint and takes the win. Smulders takes second on the stage.

Dygert puts on her ice vest as she looks for the rest of her teammates.

Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) wins stage 3, crossing the line one seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

 Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco ) finished second on the stage, just ahead of Rüegg.

Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) , seen here with Stuart O’Grady, Tour Down Under race director, won the overall 2024 Women's Tour Down Under. 

Results

Let's hear from the overall winner Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly).

“It was quite a challenge. Honestly, they didn't make it easy for us. For sure, they tried a lot of moves, especially in the last two laps. The first three laps were actually quite okay. I expected it harder, and then, I was just super nervous, honestly, the whole day, I was like, well, I really want to bring it home.”

“And the team did amazing again, and so I could kind of save all my energy in the beginning and then just focused on the last two laps and followed all the moves. And I could keep it until the end. I'm super happy.”

About the confidence garnered with this victory. “It’s amazing, if you win the first road tour race of the year, it gives you an amazing feeling. I know I did the right things in the winter, and now I just keep building onto that and keep doing what I'm doing, and then it will be fine.”

Come back to Tour Down Under? “Absolutely, I would love to, I really, really enjoyed already before the race. I always said, it feels like a little holiday here. It's just so nice. I really enjoyed my time here, and I hope to come back next year.”

Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here:

Noemi Rüegg wins Women's Tour Down Under as Chloé Dygert sprints to stage 3 victory

Let's hear from stage 3 winner Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto).

“It's really good. We came here to try to get GC and to get a stage win. And so, we really worked hard today. We went all in for the stage win because GC was kind of out of contention, so we all put in a huge effort for today, and we're really happy to pull it off.”

“The first lap felt pretty quick, but next laps, it was really slow. There was just a big cluster of riders. The whole time, I was getting frustrated. I was hoping that it would really wean out. So, it was a little frustrating in that regard, but for the most part, the final kind of weeded everybody out anyway.

"I’m really happy. You know, last year, really nothing was planned. Of course, we got a gold in the team pursuit and I podiumed at worlds in the road race and time trial, but those were not the results that I was aiming for. There's no excuse. I'm not even going to use excuses. It just wasn't my year, there’s better riders on the day and how it goes sometimes, but really it encouraged me to work hard this winter to, you know, limit my chances to get injured. So I'm really happy to just be healthy right now."

Let's hear from the winner of the mountains classification, Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia)

“I’m at a loss for words. I didn't expect to even last the second QOM sprint. I thought I lost in that field when it was all strung out. And, I can't thank the girls enough today, like Nicole [Flain]’s brilliant lead out. Yeah, crazy.”