Photo finish! Vos beats Bredewold and wins stage 6 of La Vuelta Femenina

The red leader's jersey hung around Demi Vollering's shoulders for the first time in this Vuelta Femenina. The Dutch rider from FDJ-Suez was the strongest climber the day before, winning the stage and the lead in the GC. The peloton wouldn't face long climbs or steep gradients like those in that stage during the sixth stage, which was mostly flat.

Still, the final part of the stage could be considered quite tricky. In the race's final hour, three short hills awaited, followed by a slight incline in the last kilometer before the finish. After the only intermediate sprint of the day (after 104.5 kilometers), the riders first had to tackle a kilometer-long climb at 4.6% and then a 1.4-kilometer climb at 5.4%. After a flat section, there was a descent towards the final steeper climb of 1.1 kilometers at 6%. The descent was immediately followed by the final uphill kilometer.

The race started in Becceril de Campos, finishing in Baltanas 127 kilometers later. There were a few attacks from the start, but the first serious breakaway didn't happen until almost halfway through the race. No fewer than nineteen (!) riders managed to escape from the peloton, including the following Dutch women: Femke Markus (SD WOrx-Protime), Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), Jeanne Korevaar (Liv Alula Jayco), Femke de Vries (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Anna van Wersch (Lotto Ladies).

However, the lead group's advantage quickly diminished. With 50 kilometers to go, the peloton closed in less than half a minute, causing unrest in the lead group. Not much later, 45 kilometers from the finish, the peloton came back together, and all eyes were focused on the final phase, in which the riders faced several treacherous climbs.

However, the peloton did not stay together in the run-up to the final. Three riders initially chose to attack again. Behind them, another three riders launched a counterattack. With 35 kilometers, the breakaway riders quickly built up just under a minute lead over the peloton.

Arriving in the hilly section, the breakaway group of three still had a comfortable lead of over a minute. However, thanks in part to the control of Visma | Lease a Bike in the peloton, that lead never became really dangerous. On the descent of one of the climbs, the peloton then pushed hard, stretching out into a long line. As a result, the three leaders were caught before entering the final ten kilometers.

Liane Lippert pulled away on one of the uphill sections, breaking up the peloton. Who was able to keep up? Vos, who managed to hook up with Anna van der Breggen, among others. Unfortunately, the three riders' impressive attack was unsuccessful and were quickly caught again.

The peloton, already significantly reduced, headed together towards the final climb. Nothing happened on the last uphill sections, so the focus in the peloton shifted to the sprint. It turned into a duel between Bredewold and Vos. In a photo finish in the streets of Baltanás, Vos proved to be the strongest and took her second stage victory.