Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femme was one of the hardest stages of the race, with a mountainous route through the Massif Central that included six classified climbs and many unclassified climbs. Compared to the first day, the race was more aggressive, with several breakaway groups making the rainy stage more exciting. Stage 7 on July 29 will feature a summit finish in the iconic Tourmalet. Climbers like Georgia Williams (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) were off the front of the race on Monday. 'Everyone knew it was going to be a hard day. The race was pretty fast because there were a lot of climbs and everyone was constantly fighting for position. Then there were wet roads and sketchy descents, which also made the race faster. The New Zealander was part of a two-rider breakaway with Hannah Ludwig (Unoex Pro Cycling Team), who made an early breakaway on the 151.7km route that started with a climb from Clermont-Ferrand and continued up and down.

"I wasn't planning on going into the break, but on the climb I went to the front. There were a couple of attacks and two groups of five escaped, but then they came back. Then Hannah Ludwig got away and I followed her. I was hoping for a little more company, but we rode really well together," Williams recalled of her exploits. For a while, Williams led the mountain class, climbing the Côtes du Mont-Dor and Côtes de la Stère first in the fourth category. Although her time at the front ended midway through the stage, Williams was happy with her day. I didn't know how long I was going to be able to ride, but the time gap just kept getting bigger and bigger," Williams said. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun. There were so many people, so many spectators, and everyone was cheering for me, it was really great." The attack began again in the second category, the Côte des Plains. Julie van der Velde (Phoenix-Desseuninck) took the lead ahead of teammate Jara Castellaine and was joined by Anouska Koster (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Eva Van Act (Team Jumbo-Visma). However, Koster and Castelline did not break away from the lead until the final climb to the Côte de Trebiac, where they were caught 4.4 km from the finish. Coster won the Combat Award and Castellane took the polka-dot mountain jersey. Said Koster: "It was a really good team effort. Our goal was to attack and I think we held our own. I'm really proud to take the polka-dot jersey for the team," Castellane told Cycling News after the race. Finally, Quinty Tone (Rib Racing Techfind) went into a solo chase behind Koster and Castelline. She explained that she wanted to anticipate the final climb.

"I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stay with the best group on the last climb, so I wanted to be in front beforehand. I tried to catch up to the breakaway group, but I quickly realized I couldn't catch them, so I went back to the peloton," Tong said.