AGNIESZKA JUST SHY OF PODIUM AT LA VUELTA

Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka came agonisingly close to her first-ever WorldTour podium on stage 5 of La Vuelta Femenina, narrowly losing out to Paternoster (LIV) on the line and finishing just behind the leading duo of Bredewold and Kopecky (SDW).

The Polish rider benefitted from a fantastic lead-out by fellow countrywoman Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who powered up the lower slopes of the dragging finishing straight with Agnieszka glued to her wheel, before holding on for 8th place herself.

Compared to last year, it’s been a quieter start to the season for Agnieszka, but yesterday’s top 10 showed that the form was right where it needed to be, and today she matched her best-ever WorldTour result. Here’s what she had to say after another close call.

“Already with 20km to go, it was super fast and hectic. Everyone wanted to be in the front before the narrow part into the finish. In the final kilometres, I heard the crash behind me, but I was near the front with Kasia. We then helped each other with the sprint.”

“Today’s finish was better for me. I could save more energy, and we came into the final kick at high speed. I had something in my legs for the sprint. Third place would definitely have been nicer, but it was good to be there and sprinting for the podium.”

The 126km stage from León to Astorga, the only day of this year’s race in the Castilla y León region, offered a brief reset after the punchy, rolling terrain of the four Galician stages, and before the brutal mountain-top finishes that await the peloton in the final two days.

Labelled as the only ‘flat’ stage of La Vuelta Femenina, the route was fairly straightforward, with two gently ascending category 3 climbs contributing to a manageable 1146m of elevation gain. The final 40km trended gradually downhill on false-flat roads, before the last 1km dragged uphill to the line.

Racing was lively from the outset, with a five-rider breakaway establishing itself at the head of the race within the opening 30km. Their advantage hovered around two minutes through the halfway point, and although several teams controlled proceedings behind, the peloton was also content to let the break enjoy its moment out front.

It all came back together with 8km to go as the sprint trains began to gather speed, while a spell of wet weather added extra tension. Wilma Aintila was on hand for lead-out duties, but unfortunately crashed inside the final 2km – updates on her condition will follow if needed. Kasia and Agnieszka remained safe and well-positioned near the front, finding each other with 1km to go, expertly tackling the tough finale together.

Kasia now finally gets her chance to properly fight for the general classification, as the race heads into two decisive summit finishes on Friday and Saturday – the brutal 4km ascent to Les Praeres, where gradients average around 13%, and the legendary Alto de l’Angliru (12.4km at 9.7%). She’s highly motivated heading into the final days, having been unable to fully impose herself in previous stages.

“Now the fun begins. The first three stages were quite hard, but the last two have been passive. That’s given the GC riders time to recover. Physically, I feel good, and I hope to do my best. It’s going to be interesting. I have been thinking how to best ride the final steep climbs so that you don’t blow up. There haven’t been any decisive moments yet for the GC contenders, so I’m looking forward to the next two stages, and also the learnings that will come with them.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

Stage 6 | Fri, May 8 | Gijón – Les Praeres | 106 km | 2138m | 14:05 – 17:36 CET | Live 16:05.

Stage 7 | Sat, May 9 | La Pola Llaviana – L’Angliru | 132km | 3272m | 10:15 – 14:17 CET | Live 15:50.

Live coverage is available on RTVE (Spain), TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO Max, FloBikes, Peacock, SBS, and other national broadcasters. Follow the race each day on X using #LaVueltaFemenina and #UCIWWT, and stay updated with CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto via our social channels.