Riejanne Markus delivered a powerful performance on Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain, crossing the line in second place and moving up to second on GC. The stage, spanning 119.4 km from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, finished atop the infamous Saltburn Bank.
Patience was key on a stage like today. A controlled start to the second stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain with a small break of 3 riders getting away but the peloton made sure to keep the time gap to within reaching distance. The local finishing laps – twice up Saltburn Bank climb, was always going to play a major part in the day.
Stage 2 in Riejanne's words..
On the first real climb, the race exploded. Attacks were going everywhere and we tried to be in a good position and in all the moves. First, Anna was in the break, Lizzie on the attack, Lauretta on the attack but no one was really getting away. Once we hit the long climb on the finishing loop, one rider from Picnic Post-NL got away. Over the top of the climb it was just myself and Anna left in the group so I knew I had to attack. I found a good moment and managed to escape the bunch.
Once I got away, I got close to the lead rider but I didn't get across. The gap was going from 5 to 10 seconds and back again. It's maybe disappointing but I'm also super happy I could stay in front of the bunch on this hard final. I'm really happy with this result but it was definitely a hard race and I couldn't have done it without the help of the girls. Anna especially played a big part in the final, upsetting the chase behind.
