There have been several GC skirmishes through the first half of La Vuelta Femenina but the summit finish on stage 5 was the first real test of the climbing legs and at the Rapatan Fort in the Pyrenean town of Jaca the flames of hope for Demi Vollering's rivals got a serious dousing.
There may still be an ember burning for Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), who is the closest rival to the SD Worx-Protime rider on the overall, at 31 seconds, but it looks like there is every chance that the red jersey of the race leader could have found its home for 2024. Now that Vollering has broken her victory drought with her first top step of the season, it may well continue on into a roll.
"I felt very strong this whole year. I was on the podium several times, but victory remained out," said Vollering in a team media statement. "It took a long time this year for me to win. I am happy that I was able to show it here now."
Heading into La Vuelta Femenina, Vollering was the obvious favourite, given she was second to Van Vleuten last year – losing red on the second last stage after an ill-timed nature break – and was also the Tour de France Femmes victor in 2023.
Though, her lack of a win through the early part of the season, despite many podiums, meant the door still seemed open for numerous potential challengers. They included Lidl-Trek, with Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini, Canyon-SRAM's duo of Kasia Niewiadoma and Ricarda Bauernfeind, Juliette Labous (DSM Firmenich-Post NL), Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) and Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike).
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However, Vollering looked every bit the dominant player as she assuredly took control on the relatively short category 2 final climb of stage 5. She gained a solid gap on the very first summit finish, accelerating away from Yara Kastelijn (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and main GC rival Longo Borghini, in the final stages of the ascent.
"That plan worked well,” said Vollering. “Winning La Vuelta Femenina is my big goal and I am happy to already have this beautiful red leader's jersey around my shoulders.
“I hope we can make it a few more nice days here with the team and defend my position. The fact that I am already 31 seconds ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini is a good starting point."
From opening salvos to decisive long climbs
After a strong Team Time Trial on the opening stage, with SD Worx-Protime taking third behind Lidl-Trek and Visma, Vollering already had a small advantage on many rivals and then opened up a substantial one in the crosswinds of stage 4. But Thursday delivered the uphill finish she really needed to take control.
The Dutch rider shot up six spots in the overall to prime position as she crossed the line 28 seconds ahead of Kastelijn and the Italian champion – adding the ten bonus seconds for the win as well. That left only two riders within a minute of her on GC, first Longo Borghini and then, at 53 seconds, Riejanne Markus (Jumbo Visma), who finished fourth overall at the race last year.
Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale), Labous, SD Worx-Protime teammates Marlen Reusser and Niamh Fisher-Black and Canyon-SRAM's Niewiadoma are the only other riders within two minutes of Vollering on the general classification. That means she not only looks to be the strongest rider but also has the strongest team position, with the Dutch squad holding 3 of the top seven spots.
Lidl-Trek and Canyon-SRAM had both looked well placed to rival SD Worx-Protime on the run into the race. A Flèche Wallonne winning Niewiadoma was expected to have, not only last year’s fifth-placed Bauernfeind by her side near the top of the results table but also talented young climber Neve Bradbury.
The Australian, however, was knocked out by illness before the racing even began while Bauernfeind is 12th overall after getting caught on the wrong side of the gap on stage 4. Niewiadoma is eighth overall as while she got through stage 4 unscathed she then struggled on the final climb of stage 5 and finished 16th after feeling the impact of recent illness.
Lidl-Trek also suffered a blow on stage 5, when Realini, co-leader with Longo Borghini, had a nasty fall on the last descent and ended any hope of the team using a two-pronged GC attack against Vollering when she limped across the line more than seven minutes down in 53rd place.
Still, there are two summit finishes left, both category one and both longer than Thursday's final effort, which opens up the opportunity to carve out substantial time gaps. The first is on Friday's 132.1km stage finishing on the La Laguna Negra and then there is Sunday's race finale to Valdesquí.
It is terrain that also suits Vollering, as evidenced by her crushing victory in the final stage of La Vuelta Femenina last year, her rivals may not have the odds in their favour but some are still likely to do everything they can to prevent it being a procession to the finish.
“The long climbs in the next days will be decisive, and you interpret the longer climbs in a different way,” said Longo Borghini after stage 5. “On a 3.5km climb like today, you just have to go full gas, meanwhile on a long climb you have to pace yourself, which is something that suits me better.”
