Demi Vollering is in prime position before the final stage of La Vuelta Femenina, with the red leader's jersey on her back, a clear cut margin to second and a powerful SD Worx-Protime team in full force to support her through a summit finale that plays to her strengths.
Still the Dutch rider has learnt the hard way that red can slip away in the most unexpected of ways so she is unlikely to let her guard down, particularly as second-placed Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) is showing no signs of an early concession.
The odds are definitely stacked against a final stage coup by the Italian champion, who is the only rider within a minute of Vollering on the overall and has a crash diminished team with which to close the gap. Still, on Saturday's crosswind split stage 7, the Lidl-Trek squad of five continued to ride aggressively.
The result was a third place on the stage for Longo Borghini, which may only have shaved a few seconds from the substantial 56 second deficit to Vollering, but demonstrated that the rider and team are not interested in pulling their punches.
"The girls did a great job covering moves and trying to attack themselves," said Longo Borghini, who then tried her own in the final few hundred metres of the uphill finale.
“I tried to follow Faulkner, then I tried to pass her. I tried to go hard from 300m. I knew it was a bit far from the finish line but I had to make it hard, and in the end it’s a good third place,” said Longo Borghini, who finished just behind second-placed Kristen Faulkner [EF Education-Cannondale) after Marianne Vos surged past both of them to claim the stage victory.
An attentive Vollering came across the line just behind Longo Borghini in fourth, so while the Italian challenger did gain some GC ground, securing a four second bonus for the third place, there was no additional time gap.
Vollering is now entering the final stage with a margin of 52 seconds to her nearest rival on the overall and the only other riders within two minutes are Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike), who is back 1:14, and Juliette Labous (dsm firmenich-Post NL) at 1:48. The rest of the top ten is then more than two minutes back, with Vollering's teammate Niamh Fisher-Black fifth, Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) sixth, Faulkner seventh and then it is another SD Worx-Protime rider in eighth, Marlen Reusser. Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) and Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) round out the top ten, with Kastelijn at 4:07.
With just one stage to go that leaves Vollering – who came second to retired three-time winner Annemiek van Vleuten in 2023 – facing the final 89km of racing in a powerful position, particularly given her team strength and the terrain. Sunday's stage 7 includes two category one climbs, the last to Valdesquí Madrid delivering an average gradient of 4.8% over 12.8 kilometres.
"I think the stage suits me well. I haven’t looked into the details as of yet, but it will be a hard stage and that’s nice for me," said Vollering who came first on the summit finish on stage 5, with Kastelijn and Longo Borghini joining her on the podium, while on stage 6 Vollering was in second behind Muzic, with Kastelijn third and closest GC rival Longo Borghini in fifth.
"As for challengers to look out for, I think Yara Kastelijn has already shown how strong she is, as did Évita Muzic yesterday," said Vollering on Saturday as she continued to look ahead to Sunday's stage 8. "And you can never underestimate Elisa Longo Borghini – she is always dangerous!"
