After two days of racing with only three dozen riders finishing in the lead peloton, the La Vuelta Femenina looks set for another tough day in the saddle on Wednesday.
Lotte Kopecky and her SD Worx-Protime team are still looking for their first stage win of the race after the Belgian finished second on stages 1 and 3 and was relegated on the day in between.
Race leader Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) holds a slender two-second advantage in the general classification over Kopecky, who will undoubtedly hope to win stage 4 and don the leader's jersey.
Kerbaol, third at four seconds, put in an impressive downhill attack with over 2km to go on Tuesday, and is also within reach of the red jersey.
(Image credit: La Vuelta Femenina)
Stage 4, 115 kilometres from Monforte de Lemos to Antas de Ulla, has hardly a kilometre of flat riding.
There are two category 3 climbs along the route, the first, the Alto de Oural at kilometre 19.5km and then the Alto de A Vacariza at kilometre 83.6.
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With the last climb topping out with 31.6km remaining, all eyes will be on the intermediate sprint with 5.2km to go, where important time bonuses are on the line.
The riders will hardly have any time to catch their breath before ramping up for the final dash to the line in Antas de Ulla.
The stage profile appears to show both the intermediate sprint and finale are uphill, which should work in Kopecky's favour.
There are only two more days before the brutal summit finishes in Les Praeres on Friday and the Angliru on Saturday, which concludes the race, so the sprinters will be keen to make the most of both stage 4 and 5.
Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.
She manages global budgets, racing & events, production scheduling, and contributor commissions, collaborating across content sections and teams in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia to ensure audience and subscription growth across the brand.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
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