Bredewold wins Itzulia Women stage 1 from late breakaway

There was a fair amount of pressure on the shoulders of SD Worx-Protime's Mischa Bredewold coming into the second Spanish WorldTour race of the season, not least because she's finished runner-up in the past two editions of Itzulia Women, both times losing out to Demi Vollering. Bredewold's recent exploits in the Basque Country have been almost carbon copies of one another – including winning two of three stages – the crucial difference being that in the first of those two runner-up finishes, Vollering was a teammate. This year, Vollering is not racing as she prepares for the Giro (May 30 - June 7).

Bredewold's Basque adventure kicked off perfectly on Friday's lumpy stage 1. The prolific stage winner installed herself in the decisive move that went clear late in the day, and after the group had neutralised a daring solo attack from Antonia Niedermaier, the quintet fought all the way to the line in Zarautz where Bredewold sprinted to victory 18 seconds ahead of most of her rivals for the overall.

The Dutch rider takes a seven-second GC lead over Yara Kastelijn, and eight to Riejanne Markus, into stage 2.

[race_result id=14244 stage_id=90156 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]

[race_result id=14244 stage_id=90156 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]