The Spanish tours continue, and SD Worx-Protime has so far dominated the top step, but Vuelta a Burgos Féminas offers the other teams a last chance to turn the tables before the Women’s WorldTour leaves the country for a two-race stop over in Great Britain.
The four-day race from May 16-19 follows on from La Vuelta Femenina, won by Demi Vollering and Itzulia Women, where the SD Worx Protime rider did it again. The race will send riders back into another battle for stage victories and overall honours, with the El Alto de Rozavientos 15km from the final finish line, leaving the opportunities for the GC riders open right until the end.
Vollering clinched the overall lead and victory on the last stage last year, with Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal) completing the podium.
A returning Vollering is the clear favourite to defend for SD Worx-Protime and while the Dutchwoman looks hard to beat now that she has hit her winning form, plenty will try.
Cyclingnews runs the ruler over the potential contenders ahead of Thursday’s four-stage Women’s WorldTour race.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime)
Demi Vollering may have entered La Vuelta Femenina without any wins for the season though she certainly hit her stride at the Spanish Grand Tour. Once she stepped into red on stage 5, the first summit finish of the race, victory just kept getting looking more and more inevitable given her assured performance at every crucial point. What's more, Itzulia Women didn't show any sign that she was fading, with the rider delivering a powerful performance on the final stage, which also secured her the overall victory.
The SD Worx-Protime rider now has the results this year on her side, being two for two in the Spanish tours this month. She also has a history of performing at Vuelta a Burgos, claiming the overall last year and two stages on the way, what's more it was a clean sweep of the stages for the team with Lorena Wiebes winning the other two.
On top of that in the 2022 and 2021 editions, the Dutch rider came third overall, standing on the podium with Anna van der Breggen on her debut at the race in 2021. The team doesn't look any less formidable this year. The stage winning Wiebes is back again, along with Marlen Reusser who was fifth overall last year.
Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek)
Last year, 22-year-old Shirin van Anrooij stepped up to the second spot on the podium behind Vollering, also claiming the youth jersey as a result. It was her first time on the overall podium of a Women's WorldTour stage race, and this year could offer her an opportunity to find her way back again.
Following a break after the Ardennes Classics, the Lidl-Trek rider has used Navarra, where she came third, and Itzulia to build toward Burgos. The rider, who also races cyclocross, may not have had the results she hoped for in the April block of Women's WorldTour racing, but standing on the podium with winning teammate Elisa Longo Borghini at the Tour of Flanders in March after a second at Dwars door Vlaanderen and top fives at both Strade Bianche and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad means it hasn't exactly been a shabby start to the season.
Vuelta a Burgos could be just the place it shifts up another gear, particularly with Elisa Balsamo on the team to give it a boost in the sprint stages and with the versatile Lucinda Brand also on board.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ)
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has been sitting on the sidelines since Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after fracturing her sacrum in a crash but has confirmed via social media that she will once again be on the start line at Vuelta a Burgos Feminas.
The 28-year-old first dipped her toe in with a support role at Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria on Tuesday before taking to the start in Villagonzalo Pedernales. After nearly two months without pinning a number on her form, of course, is still an unknown. Still, while she may not have had time to work to a peak she is a rider not to be discounted.
The FDJ-SUEZ rider was 11th overall last year but fifth and sixth the previous two editions, so hasn't been that far from the podium. Her team has made a mark in Spain with Évita Muzic claiming a stage and finishing fifth overall at La Vuelta Femenina.
Muzic has also shown top form with fourth at Flèche Wallonne, 11th overall at Itzulia Women and second at the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria. The Frenchwoman was second overall at Vuelta a Burgos in 2022 and will undoubtedly use her experience to help the team earn another overall podium.
Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ)
Silvia Persico is also entering the Spanish stage racing fray at Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, having spent the early part of this month at a couple of one-day races in France and finding success at the Grand Prix du Morbihan Femmes.
The rider has finished in the top ten of the race in the past two editions and could just have the ideal versatile skill set to excel on the lumpy but not extreme climbing terrain. The team, too, could do with some Women's WorldTour success, having not taken a top-tier victory yet this season.
The Italian, who is on the build-up to her home Grand Tour, was on the podium of the final stage of the race last year. She may not be able to challenge the pure climbers like Vollering on a tough summit finish, but the downhill run after the climb could lead to a different outcome.
Elise Chabbey and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM)
Canyon-SRAM had looked to be entering the Spanish block of stage racing with one of the most formidable combinations of riders, starting with La Vuelta Femenina, but sickness tore through the team, leaving some out and others battling through.
That has meant they were on the back foot, fielding a team short on numbers at both the Grand Tour and Itzulia, but perhaps with some recovery time and some fresher legs – particularly Elise Chabbey, who was firing when she joined that fray at Itzulia to claim fifth overall – Vuelta a Burgos could deliver a much smoother path.
Last year, the team was just off the overall podium in fourth with Chloe Dygert, who isn't expected to line up this year, though, after Itzulia, Chabbey is looking like a strong option, particularly as it also follows a fourth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Then there is Neve Bradbury, who didn't make it to the start line of La Vuelta Femenina because of illness. All early season indications, however, were that the Australian rider was heading to a new level this year – with second overall at UAE Tour Women among her strong early results. Vuelta a Burgos could be just the chance she needs to resume the upward trajectory.
