Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) won stage 5 of the Vuelta Femenina in Astorga as her teammate Lotte Kopecky held back in the uphill sprint, content to get a win for the team and defend her red jersey.
Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) narrowly beat Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) to third place.
The last escapees were reeled in with 8.7km to go, and the stage was decided in a mass sprint on a 7% uphill finishing straight. Bredewold looked to be leading out Kopecky, but the red jersey chose not to come past and only controlled the other sprinters, making sure nobody came past her and letting her teammate take the win.
Going into the two mountain stages at the end of the race, Kopecky leads the GC with Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), now 12 seconds behind.
