Anna Van der Breggen takes control in the Vuelta Femenina, wins heroic stage & takes the red jersey

Anna van der Breggen delivered a masterclass on Les Praeres. Nava. The Dutch icon won the first mountain stage of this Vuelta Femenina and thus takes over the red jersey from teammate Lotte Kopecky, who will start in green tomorrow. Van der Breggen set the pace from the foot of the climb and finished solo at the top. It marks a third consecutive stage victory for Team SD Worx-Protime in this Vuelta Femenina. Tomorrow, Van der Breggen will start the tough final stage towards the Angliru as the overall leader, with an 18-second advantage. “It was a fight today on this tough climb. I’m incredibly happy with this victory,” said Van der Breggen.

Anna van der Breggen: “It was a very difficult day today. It was a constant battle. I had never seen a climb like this. At the start of the stage, I still felt the effects of yesterday’s crash. One muscle was very painful, but it kept getting better throughout the day. Then I started to believe that I could ride at my normal level again. The riders also protected me really well. It was all about fighting as hard as possible.”

“To then finish it off like this with a stage win makes me incredibly happy. This is a special victory on a unique climb. It was already very steep at the start, but it just kept going steep all the way. The key was to set a good pace and maintain it. To pace it as well as possible. Fortunately, it was enough for the stage win and the red jersey. Tomorrow will be even more climbing over a longer distance. We will try to get the maximum out of it,” Van der Breggen added.

Lotte Kopecky: “We started this Vuelta Femenina a bit slowly, but once we started winning, it hasn’t stopped so far. I heard in my earpiece that Anna van der Breggen was riding incredibly strongly on this climb. It’s a pleasure to see her take over the red jersey. What do I expect for tomorrow? On the Angliru, you never know. Today was a good test, but tomorrow is something else again. We need to have confidence, but also be cautious. One bad day on such a climb and it’s over. But of course, Anna will do everything she can to defend the jersey.”