ANTONIA DRIVES THE ACTION ON DAY 1 IN ITZULIA

Antonia Niedermaier proved she had the strongest climbing legs in the Itzulia Women peloton, blowing the race apart on the penultimate climb of the day to briefly go solo, before ultimately sprinting to 5th place from a leading quintet.

The 121.3km opening stage of the 2026 edition started and finished on the coast in a moody, rain-soaked Zarautz. The peloton was a less colourful sight than usual, with black rain jackets dominating the bunch through the early kilometres. Six climbs were packed into the relentlessly undulating route, leaving no chance of a gentle opening to the three-day tour and every opportunity for the general classification battle to begin immediately.

Antonia and Justyna Czapla remained firmly positioned within the first five wheels on the Santa Ageda (8.1km at 6.6%) – the biggest climb of the day, tackled at the halfway mark with two tough classified ascents still to come.

Every time the road tilted upwards, Antonia was there – poised, composed and looking increasingly threatening. She began to make her move on the fifth climb of the day (4.5km at 7.2%), setting a hard but measured pace at the front of a rapidly thinning peloton. One by one, rivals slipped off the back under the pressure until Antonia crested the summit alone.

Four riders clawed their way back, the quintet working smoothly together on the descent and through the valley roads before the final ascent (4.5km at 4.8%), which topped out just 7km from the finish. The climb was not selective enough for Antonia to force a decisive split, and the same five riders remained together over the top while a chasing group thundered through the fast, descending run-in in a desperate bid to regain contact.

Antonia took responsibility at the front in the closing kilometres, helping to keep the chasers at bay as the group maintained its advantage to the line. The reduced bunch eventually finished 18 seconds clear of the peloton behind, with Mischa Bredewold (SDW) taking the stage victory. With 5th place on the day, Antonia now also sits 5th overall on general classification, with Dickson (TJS), Markus (LTK) and Kastelijn (FPC) all within eight seconds.

Here’s what the 23-year-old German had to say about how the stage unfolded:

“Today’s stage was really nice – a lot of long climbs, which I like. Unfortunately, the climb where I went solo was a little bit too early, otherwise it would have been good for me, but I think in general it was a positive day. It also nice to see that the way we are going is good, especially ahead of the Giro. The body is ready, the legs are ready…”

Reflecting on her tactics in the final 2km, where she drove the pace right until the final sprint, she explained;

“The strategy in the final few kilometres was just to keep a gap to the group that was coming next, and to create a gap for the GC also. I was just riding and trying to keep a good pace, because the group was not really working – it was a little bit weird. Also, the last climb was not really perfect to attack; it wasn’t steep and the wind was quite strong, so there was no chance to somehow get away.”

The menacing form Antonia exhibited on the climbs, and her ability to steadily turn the screws until the peloton simply cracked apart, are hugely encouraging signs ahead of two demanding stages to come.

“The general classification is for sure a big goal. I think tomorrow is more like a classics style race; there’s a lot of up and down, but it’s still a hard stage. Then, on the last day, I think the climb is the same as last year where I was with Demi [Vollering]. So, I would try to go really hard on the last climb, and hopefully I can bring it to the finish then. For sure I would say that today was the hardest day, but let’s see what’s coming tomorrow.”