Marianne Vos finishes off perfect work by Visma | Lease a Bike with commanding lead in Women’s Vuelta

The Vuelta Femenina didn’t get off to the best start. During the team time trial, several teams started late or began their rides with fewer riders than planned. This was due to delays caused by chaotic bike checks, which led to a backlog and plenty of confusion. Visma | Lease a Bike announced that they would file a complaint, but by Monday, most had already turned their attention to the first road stage.

The stage was 90 kilometers long and opened immediately with a sharp climb. In Catalonia, the Alt de la Creu d’Aragall, a second-category climb, was on the agenda, seemingly the perfect spot for a breakaway to go clear. But that wasn’t the case. Several riders tried to escape, but none succeeded before the summit. Ana Santesteban (Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi) claimed the mountain points there, which means she will start Tuesday’s stage in the mountains jersey.

After the climb, Elena Cecchini (SD Worx–Protime) broke away solo, but the Italian rider had taken on an impossible task. With 60 kilometers to go, everything came back together. While the day had started off dry, it had now begun raining heavily, turning the roads dangerously slick and causing a crash involving Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ–SUEZ). Fortunately, it was a low-speed slide, and there were no serious injuries.

At the intermediate sprint in Vilafranca del Penedés, Marianne Vos easily claimed victory, earning six bonus seconds. Femke Gerritse (SD Worx–Protime) finished second and picked up four seconds, which suddenly made her the virtual race leader, as her team had placed second in Sunday’s team time trial, just three seconds behind Lidl–Trek.

A few late attacks were quickly neutralized: there was no room for breakaways this late in the race. Canyon//SRAM and Lidl–Trek controlled the front through the Catalan downpour, making any escape attempts impossible. The roads remained soaked, leading to another crash at a roundabout, this time involving Nieve Bradbury and Anna van der Breggen. Again, it happened at relatively low speed, so the damage appeared to be minimal.

When the rain stopped, the danger seemed to ease slightly. However, some gaps had formed in the peloton, causing Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix–Deceuninck) and Nieve Bradbury to miss the front group. Visma | Lease a Bike, FDJ–SUEZ, and SD Worx–Protime kept up the pace, primarily with safety in mind.

In the final moments, FDJ–SUEZ set a hard tempo at the front, and just before the final kilometer, a gap opened at a roundabout. Visma | Lease a Bike responded quickly, anchored by the incredibly strong Pauline Ferrand-Prévot working for Marianne Vos. Femke Gerritse settled into the wheel of the Visma rider but couldn’t stop the dominant Vos from claiming yet another Vuelta victory. Vos was the first to dive into the final corner and sprinted away from the rest by several bike lengths.