The Ardennes Classics, three races that normally take a backseat to the Cobbled Classics that come before them, were some of the best races of this spring, in large part thanks to the riders who lit them up. Unlike seasons before, the women who targeted the Ardennes triple sat out most of the Cobbled races, with the exception of the Tour of Flanders. That’s great news for us, because La Vuelta España Femenina sits one week after Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and most of the women we cheered on at La Flèche Wallonne and the Amstel Gold Race will be racing in Spain next week.
For a full breakdown of the stages to come in Spain, read the route preview at the link.
General Classification contenders
Let’s start things off with the rider who almost won last year’s Vuelta – Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime). Vollering returns this year without the shadow of Annemiek van Vleuten (her key rival in 2023, who retired at the end of last season), but the Dutchwoman has different fish to fry this year.
Last year prior to La Vuelta, Vollering netted the Ardennes triple victory, but this year her top finish was second at Flèche. She has yet to win a race this year, but she also narrowed her calendar to focus purely on the hillier Classics. We’ve yet to see her ride a longer climb, which was her bread and butter last year. When it comes to La Vuelta, Vollering will be out for blood after last year’s debacle.
Where Vollering was hands down the favourite on any climb last year, this year Vollering has lost a bit of her edge. Alternatively, she is just as strong but a number of riders have risen to her level. One of those riders is Kasia Niewiadoma.
The Canyon-SRAM rider is on another level this season, and was rewarded for her efforts with her first WorldTour win in five years at La Flèche Wallonne. Like Vollering, Niewiadoma has yet to test her strength on the longer climbs that will make up the GC battle for La Vuelta, but if she’s riding better than she was last year when she was second atop Col du Tourmalet at the Tour de France Femmes, she will be one of the riders fighting for red during the key stages.
Niewiadoma also has one of the strongest teams around her in Ricarda Bauernfeind, Antonia Neidermaier, and Neve Bradbury. All three are talented climbers, but will also be able to help Niewiadoma save time in the opening team time trial. Bauernfeind and Neidermaier each took a win in a Grand Tour last year – Neidermaier at the Giro and Bauernfeind at the Tour. Bradbury has been excellent this year, especially at the UAE Tour.
When it comes to the longer climbs Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) will struggle, despite being in what looks to be the best form of her career. The Italian’s wins at both Flanders and Brabantse Pijl were commanding, but the hills were short. She will have Gaia Realini to partner with for the longer ascents. The younger Italian finished third at last year’s Vuelta after some impressive performances, most notably on the sixth stage.
Other GC riders to keep in mind
AG Insurance-Soudal has two riders on their roster who might be able to challenge the top favourites next weekend on the high climbs – Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Tour Down Under winner Sarah Gigante. Gigante’s early season form was quite good, while Moolman Pasio has taken a slower approach to the season with a long stint at altitude before the Ardennes. Both riders are phenomenal climbers, and the longer the climb the better for them.
Another strong climber is DSM-Firmenich PostNL’s Juliette Labous. Labous finished second behind Van Vleuten at last year’s Giro Donne and just off the podium at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes. She is a bit of an unknown going into La Vuelta, with only eight race days so far this year.
At Setmana Valenciana in February she finished fourth overall behind Marlen Reusser, Niewiadoma, and Niamh Fisher-Black. Her Ardennes bid was a quiet one as well, but she’s been building up to the stage races and won a mountainous stage of the Giro back in 2022. She is no stranger to climbing-heavy days on the bike, and with a few of those on the menu, she is one to watch.
Liane Lippert is another unknown purely because she hasn’t raced yet this season, due to an offseason foot injury. That was a shame for Movistar, especially at the Ardennes, as she would have been a favourite for La Flèche Wallonne at the very least.
Movistar is in a transition period this year, without Van Vleuten who was their Grand Tour star since joining the Spanish team in 2021. Now, Lippert will move into a leadership role and her first test will be La Vuelta. The German national champion won a stage of the Tour last year and has been slowly chipping away at being one of the top GC contenders, but even if she doesn’t vie for red, it will be great to see her back in the peloton.
FDJ-Suez will have Evita Muzic fighting for their GC ambitions. The young Frenchwoman is a rider who has also been stepping up year-on-year. Last year she finished fifth overall at the Tour and sixth overall at La Vuelta. Last week she was fourth at Flèche. She is a rider to watch, not only next week in Spain but for the season in general.
Sprint competition
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Marianne Vos, winner of two stages at last year’s Vuelta plus the points classification, will be going for another “sprint” jersey this year. With only two sprint stages and a few other toss-ups, it looks like she will not face much competition. Her main rival will be Charlotte Kool, of DSM-Firmenich PostNL.
Vos has three wins under her belt already this season – Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, and Amstel Gold Race. She is climbing well this year, and looked like a contender for the Tour of Flanders had things gone differently on the day, but her sprint is just as good as it’s ever been.
Kool on the other hand hasn’t had the spring she wanted. After missing the UAE Tour due to illness she next raced at Omloop van het Hageland. Her best results so far have been second behind Elisa Balsamo at Brugge-De Panne and behind Lorena Wiebes at Scheldeprijs. Kool is still one of the best sprinters in the game, and with no Wiebes at the Vuelta, she will be the wheel to follow.
Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) was second behind Vos in a stage of La Vuelta last year, and outside of Spain, the Dane has won multiple stages of the Giro Donne. Her focus will be on helping Lippert win the whole race, but that shouldn’t stop her from getting in the mix on the flatter stages.
SD Worx-Protime is fielding a team specifically to help Vollering with her GC ambitions, but we will surely see Blank Vas showing off her colours on the sprint stages. The Hungarian national champion won the first stage of the Tour de Suisse last year before the Dutch team turned their focus towards Vollering and Marlen Reusser’s GC goals.
Young guns
La Vuelta doesn’t have a “Best Young Rider” competition, but there are a few young guns worth mentioning.
For Canyon-SRAM, look to Zoe Backstedt, who joined the team before the end of last year during the collapse of the former EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team. The 19-year-old went from fitting her new bikes to leading the team at the Simac Ladies Tour within a week, and while there aren’t many stages that are perfect for her at La Vuelta, she is a rider who will surely be a frequent mention in the years to come.
Another Canyon-SRAM youngster who should never be overlooked is Niedermaier. As mentioned above she will be super valuable to Niewiadoma all week, but the U23 world ITT champ also has the ability to get her own result, should the situation present itself.
Nienke Vinke (the best name in the peloton) turned heads earlier this season in Australia. The DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider won the youth classification at Tour Down Under after finishing second behind Gigante on Willunga Hill. In Europe, she’s been adjusting to her role in the peloton, and so far her best result on European soil has been eighth at a stage of the Tour de Normandie. La Vuelta will be a different situation.
Third at the Amstel Gold Race put Ingvild Gåskjenn of Liv AlUla Jayco on the map, and when it comes to the sprinters’ stages at La Vuelta she will hopefully be up there again.
Magdeleine Vallieres, while normally set on domestique duties, hopefully, encouraged EF Education-Cannondale to consider throwing her a stage opportunity this year after she won Trofeo Palma Femina in January. The Canadian climber was also twelfth at Trofeo Alfredo Binda in March. EF Education-Cannondale’s Kim Cadzow is another one that shouldn’t be overlooked. Her current form and growing aptitude for tactics landed her in the race-winning move at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Stage-hunters
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Eva van Agt was amazing in the Ardennes. She was part of the almost-winning breakaway at the Amstel Gold Race and again on the attack a few days later. The 27-year-old is still new to the peloton – she joined Visma-Lease a Bike last year after spending one season at Le Col Wahoo (now Lifeplus Wahoo) after coming to cycling from field hockey. On the few occasions where a break could be successful, it would be unsurprising to see Van Agt on the attack.
EF Education-Cannondale has a team full of stage-hunters, but the two who will be the most active will be Kristen Faulkner and Alison Jackson. Faulkner will likely try to find herself in the GC fight, and Jackson might try to get up there in the sprints, but both riders are known for their love of mixing it up.
Mavi García of Liv AlUla Jayco will definitely be up there on the climbs, and could even take one of the mountainous stages. In the past, she’s been just off the mark when it comes to general classification, but when it comes to climbing she is one of the best, and there are three occasions she could try for a stage win.
For Visma-Lease a Bike, Anna Henderson will be riding in support of Vos, but should she get a chance hopefully the British rider can have a go for her own result. She’s been a domestique for a few years now and it’s coming to a point where she either needs to force her way into the conversation or she will be trapped in that role for many years to come. She’s proven she can be up there, even as recently as the Amstel Gold Race. A stage race offers many possible stages for someone like Henderson to at least try.
Marlen Reusser will return to the peloton after a horrific crash in the first 10 km of the Tour of Flanders sidelined her from the backend of the Spring season. Her presence has been missed by the Dutch team and will be key for the opening TTT. The Swiss woman also won Setmana Valenciana earlier this season, so she’s a pretty decent backup plan for SD Worx-Protime when it comes to GC. She’s won stages of races with a powerful late-move solo attack that goes to the line.
Next to Reusser, Niamh Fisher-Black will hopefully be up there on the late-race climbs. She was riding incredibly well earlier in the season at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and every year she seems to take on more responsibility from the team. Depending on how Vollering’s form in on the climb, and factoring in that Fisher-Black won the Queen stage of Setmana Valenciana earlier this year, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the Kiwi to take a stage.
Escape Collective will publish daily stage previews before each stage, starting Saturday, April 27th with detailed information regarding the route and how to watch the live coverage. Stay tuned.
Play our Vuelta fantasy game
La Vuelta Femenina Fantasy is here!
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