As the Swiss champion crossed the line atop the infamous Willunga Hill, she had time to let it all soak in and savor the moment.

“I am super happy, and I still can’t really believe what happened today,” Noemi said. “We went into the race with this goal—that we would win this stage with either Kim or me. But to really finish it off is crazy. It feels really good.”

Unlike last year, when Noemi opened her season with a victory on the first day of racing at the Trofeo Felanitx, this year she waited until her second day of competition to secure her first win.

After a few cooler days down in South Australia, the habitual summer heat returned today as the riders prepared to take on the 115 kilometer stage. The team came into the Tour Down Under with a plan: to go all in for Noemi knowing that stage 2 was perfectly suited for her. Today, the squad did just that.

Covering moves and driving the pace in the peloton from the very beginning, the team guided Noemi perfectly to the base of the first ascent up Willunga. With a fierce pace being set by her competitors, all Noemi had to do was follow those moves and keep her composure. After the first ascent of the climb, both Kim Cadzow and Noemi had made it into the lead group.

Attacks started to come quickly from the teams with multiple riders in the pack. Kim covered several of those moves brilliantly and neutralized the group going into the town of Willunga. After a late attack from Chloe Dyggert (CSR) right before the base of the climb, the pace once again ramped up and Kim navigated Noemi to the front of the group to get her ready for the final leg of the race.

Noemi had to work hard, right from the beginning after an attack saw a small gap open up between her and two riders.

“I knew the beginning of the climb was the hardest part for me because it’s the steepest part, so I knew I just had to do my own pace and try to close this gap in my own rhythm, which I did. And then I just tried to save energy,” said Noemi after the stage.

With the group now back together, Noemi navigated to the front and followed numerous more moves all the way up the climb.

“There were a lot of attacks going on, which I had to follow. The group got smaller and smaller, and then at one point, we were only two left. She attacked, and I just followed her, and then I went by myself. At first, I thought, ‘Oh no, this was too early; I can’t keep going like this,’ but then I looked back, and I had a gap, so I had no other choice. I just had to keep going and was able to keep it to the line.”

Noemi crossed crested Willunga ten seconds ahead of the next closest rival and moved into the overall lead of the race.

She will go into the final stage of the Tour Down Under with a fifteen second lead to defend in her lead of the Tour Down Under’s Ochre leader’s jersey. But Noemi knows she can trust her teammates to do everything they can for her.

“Tomorrow is going to be a really hard stage,” Noemi said. “It’s also going to be super hot again, so I think we just have to stay calm and in control, and follow big breakaways. The stage should suit me really well. It’s always up and down with no rest, so I’ll try to just keep staying with my team. I think we have it under control. We proved that we’re really a strong team, and if we stick together, we can do great things.”