In the final kilometre of stage three of the 2026 Tour Down Under, everything was still on the line. Noemi Rüegg of EF Education-Oatly, the defending champion, was present, but vastly outnumbered. She had fought to stay with three UAE Team ADQ riders – Mavi García, Dominika Włodarczyk, and Paula Blasi – over the final ascent of the Corkscrew climb, but there was still an imbalance.
Rüegg, thanks to bonus seconds, only needed to finish with the group to win the race overall, but it was not an easy assignment, especially after a testing time in the kilometres leading up to this point.
