Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto have announced their line-up for the Vuelta Femenina with Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney leading the squad as she aims for a spot on the final podium atop the Alto de l'Angliru.
Niewiadoma-Phinney has raced the Vuelta in its current form three times before, but hasn't reached the podium at the Spanish Grand Tour. Her best result to date is 10th place in 2023, though she also finished sixth overall when the race was the multi-day Madrid Challenge. Last year, she finished 11th as the race concluded atop the Alto do Cotobello.
She will head to Spain for next week's race, which runs from May 3-9, off the back of a strong showing at the Ardennes Classics. Last week, she finished second at Amstel Gold Race, fourth at La Flèche Wallonne, and third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
"After Ardennes, it feels like there's not enough time to actually re-focus for stage races," Niewiadoma-Phinney said.
"But, this year I had different preparation in the winter time and for the classics, so I believe that the switch should be easier than previous years. I do know that the main goal is the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift and I feel like the stage races now are to make me stronger for August.
"It doesn't mean that I just want to race and get nothing from it; I still will fight for the best results, all while aiming to keep in mind that the highest goal is in August."
As well as contending for the podium, Niewiadoma-Phinney said she'll be aiming for her first Women's WorldTour victory since her triumph at the Tour de France Femmes two years ago.
"My goal for La Vuelta is to finish on the podium," she said.
"It's also not a secret that I've been chasing victories for my whole career, so I definitely want to find the opportunity to raise the hands on one of the stages. I also want to stay smart, attentive and race well with the team, to get the best out of it."
The Polish champion will be accompanied at the Vuelta by Wilma Aintila, Neve Bradbury, Tiffany Cromwell, Maria Martins, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto's seven-rider squad will be among 18 teams and 126 riders heading to the Vuelta, where other contenders will include Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Anna van der Breggen, Juliette Berthet, and Sarah Gigante.
The riders will tackle 815km of racing spread over seven days, with 15,000 metres of climbing packed into the week. Standout stages come in the final weekend, where summit finishes at Les Praeres and the fearsome Angliru poses the toughest challenges.
"I feel quite tired, but I guess it's normal after a very intense race on Sunday, plus travel and all of that. But, I am happy to get a few days at home to re-pack, re-calibrate, and recharge," Niewiadoma-Phinney said.
"I think that once you're in the race mode, the weeks are just going by and you don't mind travelling somewhere else again. La Vuelta looks really hard, especially the last two days, so I'm curious to see where my body is at, how I recover, and how I get through this long stage race.
"It's going to be the first stage bigger stage race for most of us, so I'm very curious to see the final outcome."
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of La Vuelta Femenina, including breaking news, analysis, and more from every stage, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
