In absolute terms, the women’s Valenciana stage race isn’t that big a deal. For most riders it’s a launch pad; their first taste of European stage racing this season and a chance to build some form and confidence ahead of bigger races.
And yet, after just one stage, this year’s Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana already feels significant.
For one thing, there’s the quality of the startlist. We’ve had three Women’s WorldTour races already this season, but this second-tier (2.Pro) Spanish race has provided something those events in Australia and the UAE couldn’t: many of the sport’s biggest stars, going head to head.
Just take a look at some of the names in attendance:
- Demi Vollering and Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez)
- Anna van der Breggen and Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime)
- Kasia Niewiadoma and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
- Marlen Reusser and Liane Lippert (Movistar).
That’s quite the line-up for a 2.Pro event, and one that speaks to an exciting storyline of the 2025 season: the way the biggest names in the women’s peloton are now spread out in a way we haven’t seen for some time, setting things up for many tantalising contests ahead.
The changes at SD Worx-Protime are central to this latest game of musical chairs. Vollering left SD Worx-Protime for FDJ-Suez – the biggest transfer story of 2024 – Marlen Reusser departed for Movistar, and two-time world champion Anna van der Breggen returned to racing with SD Worx-Protime after three years as sports director.
Add to that Elisa Longo Borghini’s move to UAE Team ADQ, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s return to the bunch with Visma-Lease a Bike, plus the likes of Riejanne Markus and Niamh Fisher-Black heading to Lidl-Trek with more leadership opportunities, and the landscape of the women’s peloton has changed entirely in 2025.
At Valenciana, we’re getting our first taste of that new paradigm, and it’s mighty tasty indeed.
A replay of stage 1 of Valenciana. Hit play to pick up the action with around 21 km to go.
For starters, if there was any doubt about FDJ-Suez getting behind their new marquee rider in Vollering, we can now put those doubts to rest. The French team rode with great intent on Thursday’s opening stage, drilling the pace on the penultimate climb to thin down the bunch for Vollering. That sort of support should be a given for a rider of Vollering's calibre, but it wasn’t something the Dutchwoman could always rely on at SD Worx-Protime last year.
FDJ-Suez were back on the front on the final climb too, before Vollering attacked with just over 20 km to go from what remained of the peloton.
Another question coming into the race: how would Van der Breggen go in her first pro road race since Worlds in September 2021? The answer: pretty damn well. Where fellow returning roadie Ferrand-Prévot looked underdone at the UAE Tour, Van der Breggen looked like she’d hardly missed a beat.
When Vollering attacked on the Alto de Barx climb, it was only her former teammate, mentor, and coach Van der Breggen that was able to follow. The Dutch pair already going head to head at the front of a race, in their very first encounter of the season? We couldn't have asked for much more.
Vollering would soon drop Van der Breggen, going clear over the top of the last climb and riding solo to the finish in Gandia. A victory on her first race day with FDJ-Suez, dispatching her former team in the process. It's hard to imagine a better start.
Behind Vollering, her former teammate Reusser – who already has a win to her name this year – TTed across to Van der Breggen, before beating her former DS in the sprint for second.
For Van der Breggen, though, third place in her first race back was a welcome surprise. “I wasn’t expecting this yet,” she said. “I didn’t think I would be able to keep up on a climb for so long. So that in itself is a good result.”
Assuming the 34-year-old improves as she gets more racing back in her legs – and she believes she can – we should be poised for many intriguing battles ahead. With a bit more time to prepare, can Van der Breggen wind back the clock and regain superiority over her former-teammate-turned-rival?
At the moment, Vollering and Van der Breggen are set to meet again at the Ardennes Classics – where both have excelled in the past – and at the biggest race of the year: the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. It will be Van der Breggen’s first tilt at that race, while Vollering will want desperately to win a second title; to get revenge for last year’s epic near-miss.
Of course, Vollering and Van der Breggen will also face off in the coming days; in the remaining three stages at Valenciana. Like the opening day, stages two through four are plenty hilly with many chances for the best climbers to make a difference. It seems very likely we’ll see Vollering and Van der Breggen come to the fore again.
Whatever happens, the opening day at Valenciana has been a reminder that there’s much to be excited about as the European racing season kicks into gear. The emerging Vollering vs Van der Breggen rivalry is certainly part of that, but throw in other big names like reigning Tour champion Niewiadoma, world champion Lotte Kopecky, Giro champion Longo-Borghini, Ferrand-Prévot – and many more besides – and the 2025 season is shaping up very nicely indeed.
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