Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health) has shown her talent as a climber several times before, but more often than not, the 24-year-old Swisswoman was held back by time losses or crashes.
On the last stage of La Vuelta Femenina 2026, finishing atop the Alto L'Angliru, everything finally came together for Stiasny to take her first WorldTour victory on a climb she described as her "happy place".
"I can't believe it, honestly. I'm lost for words. For me, it's incredible. I have no words, I'm speechless," said Stiasny in the flash interview after her victory.
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As it turned out, Stiasny had circled the stage in her calendar ever since it had been announced.
"I was looking forward to this stage for a really long time. When they announced that the Angliru would be part of the Vuelta, I had only one thing in my head. Every day, it was a dream to win this stage. I was looking forward to this day so much," she said.
At the stage start, when asked to describe L'Angliru in one word, Stiasny said it was "beautiful". A few hours later, she crossed the finish line atop the climb first to take a solo victory.
"This morning, I was, 'Today is finally the day I was looking forward to for so long'.
"At the beginning of the week, I told my sports director that when I arrive at the Angliru, I feel free. I feel in my place, my happy place. This is my kind of climb," said the 24-year-old.
After competing in swimming, athletics, and triathlon, Stiasny only turned her attention to road cycling in 2020.
In 2022, she finished 22nd overall in the Giro d'Italia and started the inaugural Tour de France Femmes but crashed on the opening stage in Paris and finished outside the time limit, ending her race before it really began.
In the years that followed, the minuscule climber, 160cm high and weighing only 43kg, would often lose time in stage races before reaching the mountains or even have to abandon after crashing.
In La Vuelta Femenina, she only finished with the peloton on stage 5, being dropped on the first four stages – but she didn't suffer a crash and made it to the final stage.
"You have to get to the day. So many things can happen during the week," Stiasny said.
"When we were at the bottom of the climb, I had made it through the Vuelta. I hadn't crashed. I wasn't dropped on a descent today. And I felt free. I was in my happy place the whole climb. I really enjoyed it, to be honest."
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