VICIOUS VUELTA AWAITS VERSATILE SQUAD

Journeying to Galicia in search of their own ‘buen camino’ across seven stages of La Vuelta Femenina are Wilma Aintila, Neve Bradbury, Tiffany Cromwell, Maria Martins, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.

Beginning this Sunday (May 3), the 2026 La Vuelta Femenina course is set to be the toughest yet. It’s designed to allow the very strongest climbers to rise above the rest, while offering no opportunity for others to hide. At 815km across seven days, the daily distances are not extreme, but what La Vuelta lacks in length it makes up for in vertical metres – nearly 15,000 in total.

The roads are naturally rolling in Galicia, the regional host of the first four stages – all classified as ‘hilly’. While the course undulates consistently, the gradients are never extreme, and there are relatively few categorised climbs. The first red leader’s jersey will be decided atop a subtle 3-4% drag, following two sweeping hairpins inside the flamme rouge. The remaining Galician stages could provide fertile ground for breakaways, or be raced more conservatively, with teams backing versatile riders who possess a strong finishing kick.

Racing then shifts to the region of Castilla y León for stage five. It’s a ‘flat’ day and a prized opportunity for fast finishers to claim a grand tour victory, although crosswind will be a potential threat.

While modest gaps will likely have been established in Galicia, the winner of La Roja – the iconic red leader’s jersey – will almost certainly be decided across the monstrous final days in the mountains of Asturias, starring two of the most feared climbs from the men’s Vuelta.

Stage six finishes atop the 4km ascent to Les Praeres, often dubbed a mini Angliru, with gradients hovering around 13% and maxing out at a brutal 27% – even steeper than its infamous counterpart. It is only fitting, then, that the Queen stage on the final day includes the Alto de L’Angliru itself. A climb to be respected, feared and admired in equal measure, its mythical status is undisputed. On paper, it’s noted as 12.4km at 9.7%, but dig deeper and you’ll find frightening ramps of 23%.

These two climbs are simply too difficult and decisive to see general classification contenders taking any decisive advantage before the final weekend. Equally, any gaps formed in the opening stages could be erased, and even overturned, in just a handful of kilometres on such unforgiving gradients.

Make it to the finish atop Saturday’s brutal ascent, and you will have conquered what stands as the hardest stage in La Vuelta Femenina history – over 3200m of elevation packed into 132km, also the longest day of the 2026 race.

For Kasia, the focus beforehand is on freshening up. She begins La Vuelta just one week after a podium at the illustrious Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“I feel quite tired, but I guess it’s normal after a very intense race on Sunday, plus travel and all of that. But, I am happy to get a few days at home to re-pack, re-calibrate, and recharge. I think that once you’re in the race mode, the weeks are just going by and you don’t mind traveling somewhere else again. La Vuelta looks really hard, especially the last two days, so I’m curious to see where my body is at, how I recover, and how I get through this long stage race. It’s going to be the first stage bigger stage race for most of us, so I’m very curious to see the final outcome.”

Nevertheless, she remains motivated ahead of her sixth appearance at the race.

“My goal for La Vuelta is to finish on the podium. It’s also not a secret that I’ve been chasing victories for my whole career, so I definitely want to find the opportunity to raise the hands on one of the stages. I also want to stay smart, attentive and race well with the team, to get the best out of it.”

Kasia also reflected on the challenge of quickly transitioning into stage racing after the Ardennes.

“After Ardennes, it feels like there’s not enough time to actually re-focus for stage races. But, this year I had different preparation in the winter time and for the classics, so I believe that the switch should be easier than previous years. I do know that the main goal is the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift and I feel like the stage races now are to make me stronger for August. It doesn’t mean that I just want to race and get nothing from it; I still will fight for the best results, all while aiming to keep in mind that the highest goal is in August.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

Stage 1 | Sun, May 3 | Marín – Salvaterra de Miño | 113km | 1866m elevation | 11:20 – 14:21 CET | Live 12:50.

Stage 2 | Mon, May 4 | Lobios – San Cibraro das Viñas | 109km | 2141m | 14:00 – 17:05 CET | Live 15:35.

Stage 3 | Tue, May 5 | Padrón – A Coruña | 121km | 2036m | 13:50 – 17:05 CET | Live 15:35.

Stage 4 | Wed, May 6 | Monforte de Lemos – Antas de Ulla | 115km | 2002m | 14:05 – 17:07 CET | Live 15:35.

Stage 5 | Thu, May 7 | León – Astorga | 119km | 1146m | 13:50 – 17:06 CET | Live 15:35.

Stage 6 | Fri, May 8 | Gijón – Les Praeres | 106km | 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.