SD Worx-Protime is having a very good La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es. They started the race by finishing second in the team time trial, then Femke Gerritse took her first WorldTour victory and the overall lead, and on Wednesday, Anna van der Breggen turned back the clock and reminded everyone exactly what she is capable of.
As the peloton hurtled towards the stage 4 finish in Borja, much reduced due to a category 3 climb that topped out 12.6 km from the finish line, Van der Breggen made her move. Her riding style, the envy of many an armchair cyclist, is hard to forget for anyone who watched women's cycling from 2016 to 2021 when she was the rider to beat. The prize? A first post-retirement win and a jump to second place on GC, behind only her teammate Gerritse, which sets up a stage 5 that's both a historical callback and might serve as a first real test of what her ceiling is since her return.
Van der Breggen's last WorldTour victory was on May 23, 2021, in the Vuelta a Burgos. (She also won two stages of the Giro in July of 2021; however, due to a lack of live coverage the year prior the Giro was not classed as a WorldTour race in 2021.) Coincidentally, that victory took place on the very climb the peloton will tackle on Thursday – Lagunas de Neila.
Thursday's crucial mountain stage will mark a major showdown against other potential Vuelta winners. It's there that we'll learn two things: what Van der Breggen's aspirations really are for this season, and how close she may come to achieving them.
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