Should have put money on it, although the finish was closer than Coryn Rivera would have liked. It all came down to the bike throw, but the American former Tour of Flanders winner, tipped on this site yesterday, edged Marianne Vos for the win.

Rivera’s stage 1 strategy of fighting for the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprints paid off handsomely at the end of stage 2 – with the likes of Chloe Hosking, Marta Bastianelli and overnight leader Jolien D’Hoore distanced by the lumpy course profile, the American now sits 15 seconds clear of Dani Rowe from Cylance.

The main attacker of the day was Maaike Boogaard from BTC City Ljubljana, who jumped clear after the second intermediate sprint, but no-one went with her. The teenager persisted, with the bunch eventually allowing her to build up a four-minute lead, even if she knew it was doomed to failure. The attritional nature of the route, plus strong winds, led to her being caught inside 60 kilometers to go.

🚨🎥 @MaaikeBoogaard was alone in the break for 70km today, hear what she thought here!#UCIWWT #OVOWT pic.twitter.com/o5QGOsVeJx

— UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) June 14, 2018

Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) tried with a bit more strategic planning late on, on the climbs of Newnham Hill, and took Vos, Rowe and Kasia Niewiadoma clear. They were caught by a big 30-rider group, before another regrouping.

Sunweb kept the pace flat-out in the finale, Floortje Mackaij lining the bunch out on the last climb, before Ellen Van Dijk took over. Their power caused splits to appear as riders struggled to hold their places.

The Dutch team though are playing it cool about defending Rivera’s overall lead … with three  tough days to come, it might be a case of looking for other stages rather than busting a gut to keep a sprinter in the green jersey.

Two abandons on the day: Abi Van Twisk (Trek-Drops) who was knocked out in a crash late on stage 1, and Wiggle-High5’s Katie Archibald who is recovering from a broken collarbone and came down hard again towards the end of the first stage.

Stage 2 Results, Rushden – Daventry, 143.9kms/h

1 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb     4hrs 08’ 06”

2 Marianne Vos (Ned) Waowdeals

3 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels-Dolmans

4 Dani Rowe (GB) Waowdeals

5 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Michelton-Scott

6 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Canyon-SRAM

7 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Valcar-PBM

8 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) BTC City Ljubljana

9 Eva Buurman (Ned) Trek-Drops

10 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle-High5     all same time

Overall after stage 2

1 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb          7hrs 22’ 22”

2 Dani Rowe (GB) Waowdeals                    + 15”

3 Marianne Vos (Ned) Waowdeals            + 16”

4 Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels-Dolmans         + 17”

5 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels-Dolmans + 19”

6 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle-High5 + 21”

7 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) BTC City Ljubljana    + 23”

8 Eva Buurman (Ned) Trek-Drops

9 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Valcar-PBM

10 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Canyon-SRAMall same time