{"id":204578,"date":"2026-01-19T14:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204578"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:35:17","slug":"ruegg-outlasts-uae-team-adq-to-win-tour-down-under-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/01\/19\/ruegg-outlasts-uae-team-adq-to-win-tour-down-under-again\/","title":{"rendered":"R\u00fcegg Outlasts UAE Team ADQ to Win Tour Down Under Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The combination of defending champion Noemi R\u00fcegg and reigning road race world champion Magdeleine Vallieres (both EF Education\u2013Oatly) proved too much for their rivals on the deciding third, and final lap, of the Santos Women\u2019s Tour Down Under, which was decided by the final climb and a final sprint against half of the UAE Team ADQ squad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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R\u00fcegg bests UAE in thrilling sprint showdown<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 126.5km course from Norwood to Campbelltown included two ascents of the race\u2019s longest and steepest hill, the category 1 climb to Corkscrew Road (2.5km @ 8.3%). However, the stage ended with a 5km descent to the line, and it was there R\u00fcegg proved to be the best, beating half of the UAE Team ADQ<\/a> in the final sprint.<\/p>\n

Four riders came over the final climb in front of the peloton, R\u00fcegg, 42-year-old Mavi Garc\u00eda, Paula Blasi and Dominika W\u0142odarczyk (all UAE Team ADQ), thanks in large part to the work done by the defending champion\u2019s teammates to bring her back to the UAE trio after the first Corkscrew ascent. Her rivals tried to triple-team her on the final km, but she was simply the freshest rider at crunch time and easily powered past them in the final 100 meters.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. I’m totally overwhelmed,\u201d R\u00fcegg said after the race. \u201cWe wanted to defend the title, but it is always harder to defend. My team was amazing; they believed in me more than I [did].\u00a0Magdeleine [Vallieres] was amazing, and I didn\u2019t believe it was possible after the first climb. I played the game and, yeah, I’m super stoked. I knew they would attack me; it was the only chance they had. I just had to follow immediately; I knew I had a good sprint. They kind of did the lead-out for me, which was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a typically hot January day in Australia, with temperatures around 30\u00b0 Celsius (86\u00b0F) when the stage got under way. After a tumultuous opening, Carina Schrempf (Fenix\u2013Premier Tech) and Mikayla Harvey (SD Worx\u2013Protime) broke away and led until the first of the two Corkscrew climbs, when the GC battle broke out. Race leader Ally Wollaston (FDJ United\u2013Suez), who had sprinted to victories in the first two stages, fell back immediately. W\u0142odarczyk, Garc\u00eda and Sarah Van Dam\u00a0(Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) eventually opened a gap on the climb, with five riders, including R\u00fcegg and Valieres, in the chase.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Santos Tour Down Under (@tourdownunder)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n