With Annemiek van Vleuten retiring, the door is open for a new champion to emerge at La Vuelta Femenina. Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), the Tour de France Femmes victor, is the most obvious choice as race favourite, but she hasn’t had the same form on the run-in this season, which will give her rivals hope.
Of course, those rivals will include a couple of strong options from Lidl-Trek to carry on with the season’s trend. The 2022 runner-up Elisa Longo Borghini is firing, having claimed three wins already this season, including the Tour of Flanders, and has visited the podium seven times. The Italian champion could also have Gaia Realini by her side, delivering the team strength card that Lidl-Trek seems to play so well.
Canyon-SRAM, too look set to line up with a formidable combination of riders, which could well help an in-form Kasia Niewiadoma become increasingly accustomed to the taste of victory. There are plenty of other riders among those who are expected to line up – although confirmed start lists are yet to be released – who could also challenge for overall victory at the April 28 to May 5 event.
Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind) has been in the top ten of this race and the Tour de France Femmes and also found her way onto the podium of Giro d’Italia Women in 2022. There are also a number of reasons to think that the Spanish rider could level up at this edition of the race. For a start, the toughening parcours mean there are more days suited to the 40-year-old who this year made the shift to Liv Racing TeqFind with hopes of a resurgence. The UAE Tour was a good sign, with the rider coming third overall. Add to that, the rider said she has “been feeling better than I did last year and, at this stage, I think I can do well in this race.” That means a podium target doesn’t seem unreasonable, particularly given the first stage should help her along the way.
Juliette Labous (DSM) has been in the top ten in every edition of La Vuelta Femenina, Giro d’Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes she has completed in the last three years. Last year, she also finally broke through to the podium in Italy, taking second behind a dominant Annemiek van Vleuten. With that step up to a new level at the Giro, she’ll now be aiming to do the same at the Vuelta, where she finished seventh last year.
“I have done a three-week altitude simulation camp over the last month, and I felt really good in training and recently in the races,” said Labous. “We’ve worked a lot to improve my GC abilities, so I want to aim for a podium, and we will do everything we can to achieve that goal.”
It won’t be the only ambition for the team, with Charlotte Kool on board for the sprints; however, 19-year-old Nienke Vinke, who finished second at the Tour Down Under in January, could prove a handy ally on the climbs as she debuts at the race.
Riejanne Markus (Team DSM) was just one spot off the podium at the 2023 edition of La Vuelta Femenina, knocked off the steps on the last stage by the impressive efforts on the final climb of Gaia Realini. Markus is a rider who, like García, will be hoping to start with an advantage given her team took the top spot at the opening team time trial last year. The addition of another climbing stage, however, may make it a little harder to chase the podium again given that while she may have fared reasonably on the summit finishes in the past, finishing seventh on both last year’s mountain top finales, but they still provide an opportunity for the pure climbers to leapfrog the Dutch rider.
AG Insurance-Soudal is heading into the Vuelta with an exciting mix of experience and rising talent this year – Ashleigh Moolman Pasio has the proven Grand Tour record, while Sarah Gigante has the promise. The 23-year-old Australian started the new season with her new team in ideal fashion, claiming the top step of the overall podium at the Tour Down Under with a spectacular victory on Willunga Hill. Now it’s finally time to learn the ropes of the longer stage races, with a long-awaited debut at the Spanish race after years where injury, health and circumstance have curtailed her European racing.
Learning at the side of a rider who has taken second in the women’s Giro d’Italia twice and also last year delivered sixth at the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 could provide not only a valuable stepping stone for Gigante but also a valuable ally for the seasoned South African.
Honorable mentions:
Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) came sixth in Spain last year and with a strong lead in, which included a fourth at La Flèche Wallonne, she looks to have every chance of delivering a powerful showing again in 2024.
With defending champion Van Vleuten out, Liane Lippert – who came fourth at the race in 2022 – is an obvious replacement contender for Movistar but her form is a huge unknown given she is just returning from injury to start the season. Also look out for teammate Olivia Baril who has a mounting list of stage race top ten finishes.
Ane Santesteban moved to Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi at the start of this season to help build the Spanish squad and it’s hard to go beyond success at the home tour to get momentum rolling. The climber who finished sixth at the race in 2022 will have every incentive to go all out.
