Great crowds flocked to Gorey, Co. Wexford recently to witness cyclists cross over the finish line of Stage two of Rás na mBan 2026.
Cyclists raced through several parts of Wexford and Wicklow, arriving at the finish line in Gorey, Co Wexford as part of Ireland’s only women’s international bike stage race.
Featuring in stage two of the race, Gorey became both the starting and finish line for Ireland’s only stage race on Thursday, September 3 in an all-new stage focused on Gorey. This is the third consecutive year Wexford has featured in the six stage race.
Stage two of the race kicked off with cyclists leaving Gorey as they proceeded the 97-kilometre route to race through Woodenbridge, Aughrim, Tinahely, Carnew, Ferns and Ballycanew, before returning to Gorey for the finish line at The Avenue.
Annacurra featured as the first Queen of the Mountain (QoM) opportunity of the day, before riders made their way through an undulating ride south through Carnew to Sliabh Buí.
After what had been described as a challenging stage in the six stage even, racers climbed 1,139m in elevation throughout the race. Despite all the challenges, Team Ireland riders came out on top as they took the top three spots in stage two of the race.
Arriving in first place was Aoife O’ Brien, who dominated the second stage, while teammates Emma Jeffers and Emer Heverin following close behind in second and third.
The win for the 22-year-old Aoife O’ Brien moved her to the top of the overall standings, as she finished second during the first stage of the race.
Speaking after the stage, the Mullingar rider praised the efforts of her teammates as they worked to set up the sprint finish on the return to Gorey. “It was such a hard race. All the girls worked so hard during the stage, so to pull off a win and also get the magenta jersey is really nice.
“It was a bit chaotic. There was a crash behind a lot of us going into one of the towns early on. I was looking around for the race leader for a while and I couldn’t see her and I didn’t know what happened. Then one of the girls came up and said that she was two minutes back,” Aoife added.
“I did this stage two years ago when it first came to Gorey and I got fourth, so I was kind of coming a bit with revenge.”
Gardaí in North Wexford were also on hand as cyclists made their way through Stage 2 of the race, which a representative said there was a “fantastic display of cycling talent and community spirit” throughout the route.
“Well done to all the participants, organisers and volunteers who helped make the event such a success,” the representative added.
2026 was a landmark year in the history of women’s international cycle racing in Ireland as Rás na mBan celebrated its 20-year anniversary.