Wheel Talk Newsletter: Spanish racing isn't over yet ...

La Vuelta Femenina wrapped up on Saturday and my goodness, what a race! The final two stages alone were enough to fall in love with cycling all over again. The return of Anna van der Breggen, the newcomers, L'Angliru... it was a recipe for a successful GC fight. I thought the GC was done and dusted when Van der Breggen rode away on Friday, but there was still so much to come.

Now imagine the kind of battle we are going to see on Mont Ventoux when Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Demi Vollering are there on top form, plus Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. Van der Breggen is a true Tour contender now, but she wasn't the only one to come out of the Vuelta with a clear target. UAE Team ADQ must be jumping up and down with joy at the prospect of what Paula Blasi can do at the Tour.

Ventoux is a much different climb from L'Angliru. Better for an all-out fight for the yellow jersey, but like the Vuelta, the race might not wrap on the ascent, as there is another challenging day to follow. But we've got plenty of time to look forward to the Tour. For now, we're still in Spain.

First things first: The Vuelta, wrapped

The rest of the Vuelta coverage from Matt and me with a cameo from Iain Treloar.

Relive the Vuelta, with GIFs, starting with stage 4...

Lotte Kopecky wins La Vuelta stage 4, takes over GC leadThe Belgian was only two seconds behind previous leader Franziska Koch heading into the fourth stage and will start stage 5 in red.Escape CollectiveAbby MickeySD Worx-Protime go 1-2 at La Vuelta with Bredewold and KopeckyLotte Kopecky kept her red jersey and gained some seconds over Franziska Koch going into stage 6, where the climbers will take over the spotlight.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

After the fifth stage, before the race took on some real mountains, Matt set the scene by summing up just how many riders were still within touching distance of the red jersey, and which of them were true contenders.

One minute, 28 riders, two savage climbs: The Vuelta Femenina is about to explodeThe race concludes on the dreaded Angliru climb, where just about anything could happen.Escape CollectiveMatt de Neef

Then we had the return on Van der Breggen with her pizza plate-sized cassette.

Van der Breggen storms to victory in first GC day of La VueltaThe SD Worx-Protime rider won the sixth stage of La Vuelta Femenina and took over the lead from her teammate Lotte Kopecky.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

And finally, the stage that ended it all, but only started a greater conversation about where the sport is headed and who the next generation of GC talent will be...

Blasi wins La Vuelta, Stiasny grabs stage 7 on the slopes of L’AngliruOn the punishing slopes of the famous climb, UAE Team ADQ’s Paula Blasi claimed the red jersey off the shoulders of Anna van der Breggen, while Petra Stiasny took stage victory.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

During the race, I spoke with a few riders about the breakaway and why the Vuelta was a terrible environment for any breakaway hopefuls to succeed. Shoutout to Lauretta Hanson, Brodie Chapman, and Heidi Franz for their thoughts on the subject.

The breakaway is dead. Long live the breakaway.Five stages into La Vuelta, the breakaway never had a chance. What happened to those in-between days? It’s a mix of factors.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

After the race, I wrote about the youngsters who showed what they were made of on L'Angliru.

New crop of GC contenders shine at La Vuelta FemeninaPaula Blasi, Marion Bunel, and Petra Stiasny are leading the way as the future of women’s cycling.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

And Matt wrote about the climb itself, with a collection of rider reactions.

Heaven and hell on the AngliruUntil this year, the savage slopes of the Alto de l’Angliru were considered too tough for the women’s peloton.Escape CollectiveMatt de Neef

And Iain wrote about our new obsession: Petra Stiasny. What a legend.

How Vuelta sensation Petra Stiasny found her ‘happy place’Petra Stiasny’s breakthrough win on the Angliru was built from a doomed solo breakaway in Australia, a crisis of confidence, and a lesson in finding the space where she could thrive.Escape CollectiveIain Treloar

Thanks to the peloton for making it easy to write about women's cycling this weekend. Just wow.

Racing continues...

At the Itzulia Women, May 15 to 17.

It's time for the fifth edition of Itzulia Women. For three years, the race was dominated by SD Worx-Protime, and last year, for the first time, it was won by a non-SDW rider... the caveat is that the rider in question was Demi Vollering, who won the inaugural edition in 2022 for the Dutch team, and again in 2024, but when she won in 2025, she was riding for FDJ United-Suez. If you counted that, yes, Vollering has won three of the four editions. The only other edition was won by her then-teammate Marlen Reusser.

When Reusser won the race in 2023, Vollering won the first two stages. In 2022, Vollering won all three stages. For the last two editions in a row, Mischa Bredewold has won the first two stages, and Vollering the final stage and the overall. So it's a race that really favours some repeat performances.

This will be the first year (as of the current start list and according to her pre-season race schedule) that Vollering will not line up at Itzulia Women. For the last four editions, it has really been her race. The one time she didn't win the overall, she still won two of the stages, so it's kind of a new era for the race.

The courses are harder, the start list is fascinating, and it's hopefully going to be three fantastic days of racing.

Stage 1 (Friday, May 15): Abadiño to Amorebieta-Etxano (131.7 km)

Stage 2 (Saturday, May 16): Donostia to Donostia (113.1 km)

Stage 3 (Sunday, May 17): Zarautz to Zarautz (121.3 km)

Star favourites

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Karlijn Swinkels, Dominka Wlodarczyk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Mischa Bredewold, Evita Muzic ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Juliette Berthet, Shirin van Adrooij, Liane Lippert, Magdeleine Vallieres ⭐️⭐️: Antonia Niedermaier, Mackenzie Coupland, Lauren Dickson, Thalita de Jong ⭐️: Loes Adegeest, Steffi Häberlin, Axelle Dubau-Prévôt

Last year, Bredewold won the first two stages but lost the overall to Demi Vollering on the final day. This year, the stages are pretty different, or at least, in a more balanced order. Last year's final stage is now stage 2, so the stage that ultimately decided the GC will happen with a stage remaining. Stage 3 this year is also harder than any of the three stages last year, so while Bredewold could possibly still win the opening stage, even with the climb within 7 km of the finish, the final two stages suit gutsy climbers like Swinkels or Wlodarczyk.

That means UAE Team ADQ is going into the race as the team of the favourites, something they've fumbled in the past, but with so much positivity in the last week, they can ride that wave all the way to another WWT overall win on Sunday.

FDJ United-Suez has some options in Berthet and Muzic, who both had strong performances at the Vuelta, and Lauren Dickson, who is brand new to the WorldTour.

As of writing, the start list is not confirmed, so the favourites are subject to change. Check here for a full start list_on Thursday, closer to the start of the race._

Wheel Talk podcast

This week, Gracie, Georgie, and I were joined by a very special guest to analyze La Vuelta Femenina: UAE Team ADQ's Brodie Chapman. We discussed the "comeback" of SD Worx-Protime and especially Lotte Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen, the famous L'Angliru, and the young riders who animated this year's Vuelta.

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