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Streak is over
For the first time since 2020, someone other than the great Annemiek van Vleuten will don the red jersey as the Vuelta Femenina’s overall champion.
Van Vleuten amassed three straight titles before calling time on a glittering career that seemed to get better with every passing year.
Even as race organisers expanded the event from two days in 2018 to five in 2022, and then seven in 2023, van Vleuten remained the rider to beat with only Vollering coming closest.
Now, with the Dutchwoman watching from afar, a new face will step onto the podium in Madrid and attempt to leave a legacy of their own on the Grand Tour.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
Australian fans still celebrating Grace Brown’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory can look forward to seeing more familiar faces in action at the Spanish Grand Tour.
As Sarah Gigante leads AG Insurance-Soudal’s two-up attack alongside Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, compatriots Georgia Baker and Georgie Howie will make up Liv AlUla Jayco’s side starring Mavi Garcia, Caroline Andersson, Ingvild Gaskjenn, Silke Smulders, and Teniel Campbell.
Neve Bradbury will also fly the Australian flag, the 22-year-old forming part of a strong Canyon-SRAM team headlined by reigning Fleche Wallonne champion, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and designated leader Ricarda Bauernfeind.
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Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2024: Women's Race
series • cycling
series • cycling
One more for good measure
In a boost for the women’s cycling, the Vuelta Femenina, formally known as the Vuelta Femenina by Carrefore.es, has undergone further changes to its structure for the 2024 edition.
What originally began as a one-day race in 2015 has since become an extended race that will now feature eight stages - one more than last year’s offering.
It takes the total distance travelled to 867 kilometres and provides the peloton with more opportunities to take the red jersey in what is now the second-longest women’s race behind the Tour de France Femmes.
Having the women’s Grand Tour take place in May also allows for more exposure before the Giro d’Italia, having previously been held in September alongside the men’s Vuelta a Espana.
Demi mode?
After dominating the peloton in 2023, Demi Vollering is still yet to taste victory this season.
Nevertheless, the SD Worx-Protime star is expected to battle for the red jersey in Spain, where Lidl-Trek’s Gaia Realini and Elisa Longo Borghini are likely to challenge for podium honours.
Vollering recently concluded her Classics campaign with podium finishes at the Strade Bianche (third), and , leaving many to believe her breakthrough could come during the first Grand Tour of the year.
However, there are other riders the 27-year-old will need to be wary of, including Canyon-SRAM’s Bauernfeind, Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), and the AG Insurance-Soudal duo of Gigante and Moolman Pasio.
Somewhere over the mountains
An opening stage team time trial in Valencia precedes a general classification battle that will undoubtedly see its twists and turns take place in the mountains.
In addition to the Pyrenees on offer this year, the women’s peloton will also tackle three climbs usually reserved for the men’s Vuelta a Espana: the Rapitan Fort in Java, La Laguna Negra in Vinuesa, and the Valdesqui.
The latter climb will take place on the final day and is one of three summit finishes scheduled over the course of the eight stages, with only one stage likely to be decided by the sprinters.
Stage eight’s 89.5-kilometre trek to the Valdesqui, though short, will include two category-one climbs; the first, a 9.1km slog at 6.8%, and the other spanning 12.8km at 4.8% in what is sure to decide who wins the red jersey.
