Bredewold shows outstanding climbing legs to claim stage one win at the Itzulia Women

The first stage of the Itzulia Women, has been won by Mischa Bredewold. The SD Worx-Protime rider showed her considerable climbing ability and ultimately won a reduced sprint ahead of Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech) in second and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) in third. With the win, Bredewold immediately takes the overall race lead of the women's Tour of the Basque Country.

Basque racing is always a spectacle. After the men completed their Tour of the Basque Country earlier this year, it was now the women's turn for a three-day stage race over terrain with barely a flat metre to be found.

The race attracted a competitive field of outsiders and specialists: Juliette Berthet and Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) and world champion Magdeleine Vallières (EF Education-Oatly) among the most notable. The opening stage of 121 kilometres around Zarautz — with over 2,500 metres of climbing — gave them an immediate opportunity to make their mark.

A breakaway was slow to form. It was only after 40 kilometres that things finally came alive, when Megan Arens of Picnic-PostNL made the first real move. The 19-year-old — who was junior time trial world champion last year — opened a gap, but was caught after 20 kilometres. EF Education-Oatly kept the tempo high.

The pace was relentless, and SD Worx-Protime were also prominent at the front. Occasional accelerations came and went, but nobody was able to make a decisive split — though the peloton was shedding riders at the back. Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), among others, was dropped on the Santa Ágeda — the longest climb of the day. With around 40 kilometres remaining, a group of roughly forty riders remained at the front.

On the penultimate climb, the race finally detonated. It was Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto who set a brutally high tempo, making life miserable for her rivals. Berthet, Muzic, Wlodarczyk and Vallières all had to let go. A group of five was whittled down, but even they could no longer match the German's pace. Niedermaier crested alone, with a chasing group of four — three of them Dutch — in pursuit.

Those three were Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech) and the impressively climbing Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime), joined by Lauren Dixon (FDJ-SUEZ). On the descent, the quartet bridged up to Niedermaier. Behind them, a larger group was charging hard — making the finish feel genuinely wide open.

Bredewold picked up some bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, though cooperation in the front group was not ideal — partly because Dixon was not contributing, and partly because Bredewold was clearly the fastest rider in the group. The final climb was not overly difficult, but Niedermaier again tried to force a split at its summit. She couldn't quite get clear, and so five riders headed for the line together. Would any of the chasers get back?

The chasing group rode hard over the final climb and came very close — but not close enough. Markus tried a late attack but found no room. The chasers hesitated at the critical moment, and the sprint was confirmed. It was the expected outcome — and in the sprint, Bredewold was comfortably the strongest. She took the win and the leader's jersey. It was her third consecutive opening stage win at this race.