23-year-old Silke Smulders shone on today’s second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, climbing out of her skin to a phenomenal second place up the iconic Willunga climb.
Marked as the Queen stage of the three-day race, the women’s peloton set out to tackle two ascents of the brutal climb, with Smulders showing her fine form on the first passing making it into an elite selection of 14 riders.
The race then came back together on the descent, with a new group coming across and then jumping away on the run-in to the second and final ascent. This played into Smulders hands as she was joined by teammates Ella Wyllie and Amber Pate who worked to protect Smulders, setting her up for one all important final effort to the top.
As soon as the pace lifted on the climb, the Liv AlUla Jayco rider found herself once again with a small elite selection of just four riders. It looks like it would be the race winning move however, as the kilometres ticked down, the group stalled slightly and more riders jumped across.
Smulders rode with maturity and confidence, staying patient while covering all moves until she finally broke away with Noemi Rüegg.
The duo battled neck-and-neck together until the final 300metres when Rüegg found something to edge away from Smulders to take the honours.
Smulders now heads into tomorrow’s all important final stage in second place overall, just 15seconds behind the race leader.
Silke Smulders
“I gave it everything and in the final, I made no mistakes, I kept really cool, and Noemi was just stronger. It was a special feeling, all the team worked for me, and I have never experienced that before so I am so grateful that I got the opportunity. Everybody really believed in me, so I am of course disappointed not to win, being so close, but also very happy with this second place.
It is close now on the general classification and after today, I think we can see that we have a really strong team and that everyone is really committed so, I think anything is possible.”
Gene Bates – Sport Director
“It was a great day for Silke and for the team. We came in with options with Silke and Ella and after the first ascent it was pretty clear that Silke was on a good day. We went into full support mode with her, to deliver her as best as we could. We weren’t the absolute favourites, and I think we used that to our advantage. We really looking forward to tomorrow’s stage now.”
2025 Santos Women’s Tour Down Under – stage 2:
1. Noemi Rüegg 3:10:03
2. Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:10
2025 General Classification – stage 2:
1. Noemi Rüegg 5:55:34
2. Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:15
Photo: Sprint Cycling
