On stage 2 of La Vuelta Femenina, Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) won the day’s only QOM sprint and took the polka-dot jersey. The 25-year-old then fought hard to stay in the lead of the mountain classification all the way to stage 8, where she remained aggressive with two breakaway efforts in a bid to keep the polka-dot jersey.
But the finishing climb to Valdesquí on Sunday provided extra points in the QOM competition, so Swinkels had extra work to do in holding off a charge by overall leader Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime). The plan to hold off the eventual overall winner lasted with just a few kilometres remaining in the 89.5km stage, but she walked away with her head held high.
