The aggressive stage finished in Sigüenza and no one could match Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) atop the final 500 m ascent. After leading the peloton for the entire final climb, Kristen Faulkner of EF Education-Cannondale was able to finish second ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
Demi Vollering finished fourth and will start the final stage on Sunday in the red leader’s jersey 52 seconds ahead of Longo Borghini and 1:14 ahead of Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike).
- It was another active start to the stage with attacks going from the start. Eventually, a group of four riders including Veronica Ewers of EF Education-Cannondale and Olympic gold medalist Anna Kiesenhofer of Roland managed to get away with 114 km remaining. The break of seven was caught only 42 km later, with most of the day’s uncategorized climbing still to go.
- After they were caught, Kiesenhofer tried again, this time on her own, but she was joined by eight more riders with 49 km to go. The nine riders were dangling in front of the peloton until crosswinds struck with 37 km and the race turned on its head. Elisa Longo Borghini took control and split the peloton, along with SD Worx-Protime and Visma-Lease a Bike.
- Like on stage 4, Movistar missed the splits but FDJ-Suez did not, they were present at the front of the race with Stage 6 winner Evita Muzic.
- The group worked well together as they approached the finish, with a few flyers in the final 10 km from SD Worx-Protime’s Mischa Bredewold and Marlen Reusser, along with stage 2-winner Alison Jackson of EF Education-Cannondale.
- As the race approached the finale, Kirsten Faulkner took to the front of the peloton. The American led the group up the climb until Vos came around her before the line. Longo Borghini finished just behind Faulkner for third.
Stage Top 10
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GC Top 10
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The final stage on Sunday is another mountain top. The race will finish just outside of Madrid and cover two Category 1 climbs, with the finish atop the second. For a full preview of the stage, plus how to watch and who we think is going to win, see the stage preview on EscapeCollective.com.
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