SAVAGE ANGLIRU DECIDER SEES KASIA FINISH 8TH OVERALL AT LA VUELTA

After more than four hours of racing – and over 60 minutes of it spent in an all-out sufferfest – Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney crossed the line in 11th position to conclude the first grand tour of the year in 8th overall.

The much-talked-about and nervously anticipated queen stage of the 2026 La Vuelta Femenina was a finale to rival all finales. At a decent 132km, it was the longest stage of the race, but it was the brutal accumulation of climbing metres that would ultimately make or break general classification ambitions.

Towering over every other climb on the route was the Alto de l’Angliru (12.4km at 9.7%), looming ominously as a savage summit finish. Before the peloton could even reach its infamous slopes, however, three other categorised climbs of roughly 5km each first had to be conquered – mere blips in the shadow of the final behemoth on the race profile.

There were plenty of attempts to create a breakaway in the opening phases of the stage, with the peloton fracturing and reforming in smaller numbers after each of the early climbs – a fierce fight for the QOM classification injecting extra intensity.

Eventually, a peloton of 30 reached the base of L’Angliru together, with a break of three still holding a two minute lead. Unlike the bunch detonation from the outset of yesterday’s finishing climb, the opening slopes of today’s ascent were ridden in a very controlled manner. Key teams set a hard, steady tempo, while Kasia and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig remained tucked safely in the wheels.

The final 6.5km of L’Angliru rose a colossal 880m in elevation, doing so by averaging a mind-boggling 13.5%. It was on the opening ramps of this section that teams finally exhausted their remaining resources, turning the climb into a pure woman-against-woman battle. Kasia was gradually distanced from the initial lead group of six, pedal stroke by pedal stroke, but continued to plug away on staggering gradients that regularly kicked above 20%.

She ultimately crossed the line 2:16 behind stage winner Stiasny (HPH) and 1:53 behind second-placed, and eventual general classification winner, Blasi (UAD). That left her just over three minutes down in the final overall standings. Here’s how she reflected on the mammoth day and the outcome of La Vuelta Femenina.

“That was quite the climb. Even with small gears, you feel like your cadence is slow and you’re just suffering the whole way up. It’s disappointing not to be up there fighting for the victory because that’s where I want to be. I have to be realistic, and I knew coming here that the long mountain climbs would be a test. I definitely got that test and the feeling of the first “real” day of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift training. It’s interesting to see where I’m at, and I’ll sit with my coach to work out what and how to improve. I’ll take some time to recover now, and then I’ll go back to altitude.”