THE FIRST MOUNTAIN STAGE OF LA VUELTA STINGS

A tenth placing was not the result Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney had envisaged, nor the one she had prepared for, on stage 6 of La Vuelta Femenina – the first of two decisive general classification showdowns in a heavily back-loaded edition of the race.

While the seventh and final stage is set to be dominated by the legendary Alto de l’Angliru (12.4km at 9.7%), the penultimate day provided a menacing precursor of its own; the finishing climb to Les Praeres, an eye-watering 3.7km at 13.4%.

After several demanding yet still somewhat inconclusive stages across the endlessly rolling terrain of Galicia, where the racing had been animated, but the roads not selective enough for the general classification contenders to truly establish themselves, there was to be nowhere to hide from today onwards.

The peloton rolled out from Gijón on the Asturias coast with 111km ahead of them. Much of the route traced meandering inland roads that gently rose and fell, but it was the minority final portion of the stage that would leave an oversized mark on both the day’s result and the overall race.

With 95km remaining, the breakaway had already formed, while the peloton stayed subdued and wrapped up, the heavy, foreboding skies matching the enormity of what still lay ahead. Up until the final 10km, racing followed a familiar playbook from earlier stages; the early break was suddenly brought back, and then the rain arrived. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka was driving hard on the front of the peloton, keeping Kasia well-positioned amongst the other top climbing contenders.

The weather then took an even sharper turn for the worse, heavy rain making positioning absolutely critical on the narrow roads. With a highly technical, sinuous descent inside the final 5km serving as the approach to the climb, there was no margin for error as the race began to splinter on extreme roads in extreme conditions.

Treacherous lead-in safely negotiated, Kasia arrived at the base of the “mini L’Angliru” inside the top five wheels. She looked composed, but heading into the final 3km with a long, sustained effort still to come, she quietly slipped from the wheel of pace-setter Anna van der Breggen. Within 500m, she had drifted back to fifth on the road.

Van der Breggen went on to take the stage win, while Kasia fought to limit her losses on gradients that reached a staggering 27%. She finished in 10th place, +1:09 down. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig was the next rider home for the team, finishing in 14th position.

Kasia reflected afterwards on a result that fell short of her expectations:

“The climb was just super steep. I mean, it’s hard to get any sort of cadence on that steep, steep climb. It was a 20-minute straight strength effort today. I exploded early, and then it was just suffering to the finish. I need some time to digest today, and to realise it was just a warm-up for what we have to race up tomorrow.”

Tomorrow is a new day, and on a finishing climb more than three times the length of today’s, there are still plenty of opportunities left to dictate the racing – both on the stage and in the general classification. Kasia currently sits 6th overall, +1:25 behind van der Breggen and 44 seconds off the podium.

HOW TO FOLLOW

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.