A strong first half at La Vuelta Femenina saw Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) secure a stage victory, three podium finishes and the overall GC lead as the race heads into the final four stages.
Vos said the overall classification was not her target for the eight-day race but that wearing the maillot rojo had been a nice surprise.
“It was not the main goal today, but it is, of course, always nice to ride in the leader's jersey," Vos said at the stage 4 finish line in Zaragoza on Wednesday.
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Vos finished second in the opening team time trial as part of her Visma-Lease a Bike team. She then went on to win stage 3 into Teruel and finished third on stage 4, where she took the overall lead by five seconds ahead of Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and nine seconds ahead of stage winner Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale).
At the end of the 142km stage from Molina de Aragón to Zaragoza, which was riddled with strong winds that caused echelons throughout the peloton, Vos finished second in the 15-rider chase group that sprinted across the finish line 10 seconds behind solo winner Faulkner.
Her third place on the day meant that she picked up enough time bonus seconds to move ahead of overnight leader Vas.
"Faulkner's attack was very strong. It was a tough race from the start. In the beginning, we were maybe a little too far in the back, but fortunately, we were soon able to move to the front," Vos said.
"It was good to see that Riejanne [Markus] and Sophie [von Berswordt] were also in the front group when the decisive split occurred. The three of us rode well, but unfortunately, one person proved to be too strong. Faulkner is the deserved winner."
La Vuelta Femenina now heads into the mountains with finish climbs: Fuerte Rapitán on stage 5, Laguna Negra de Vinuesa on stage 6, and Valdesquí. Comunidad de Madrid on stage 8.
Vos will undoubtedly try to hold onto the overall race lead for as long as possible; however, she may be forced to give up the maillot rojo to the GC favourites including Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek), or Spanish Champion Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco).
There are several riders in contention to win this year's overall title at La Vuelta Femenina, and Cyclingnews highlights the riders to watch.
