Final podium for classifications at La Vuelta Femenina (L to R): Green points jersey Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma, race winner Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar Team in the Red Leader Jersey and Gaia Realini of Trek-Segafredo in the Polka dot Mountain Jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar Team moves into Red Leader Jersey with second place finish on stage 6(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Demi Vollering of Team SD Worx reacts at finish line as stage 5 winner(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) wins her second consecutive stage of La Vuelta Femenina to extend her GC lead on Thursday(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma retained the Red Leader Jersey after winning stage 3(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Charlotte Kool of Team DSM wins stage 2 ahead of new GC leader Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Riejanne Markus, Amber Kraak, Anna Henderson and Marianne Vos in the most combative, points, leader and mountains jerseys(Image credit: Getty Images)
Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx), riding to regain the leader's jersey she lost one day before, climbed to victory at the summit of Lagos de Covadonga on stage 7 of La Vuelta Femenina. However, rival Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) crossed the line in third place, 56 seconds behind Vollering, and secured the GC victory by just nine seconds.
Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) won her first WorldTour race on stage 6 of La Vuelta Femenina in a two-up sprint with breakaway partner Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team). However, Van Vleuten gained substantial time over Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) to take over as the GC leader.
Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) earned the stage 5 victory of La Vuelta Femenina on the first mountaintop finish to the Mirador de Peñas Llanas, and moved into the red jersey of the overall leader. Only Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) could match her pace on the final climb, with Van Vleuten finishing second and Bauernfeind third nine seconds later.
For a second consecutive day, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to victory at La Vuelta Femenina, this time winning stage 4. Riding in the red leader's jersey, Vos beat Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) to the line in Guadalajara, while Marlen Reusser (Team SD Worx) took third. Vos extended her GC lead and is now 25 seconds ahead of Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM).
Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to victory on stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina in the red leader's jersey after a very fast stage dominated by tail-crosswinds and echelons. Charlotte Kool finished second and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) took third place.
Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) ignited her sprint in the closing metres and won stage 2 of La Vuelta Femenina. She jumped off the wheel of Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma), who finished second and took over as the race leader. Vos is one second ahead in the GC of Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), who finished third on the stage.
Anna Henderson crossed the line first to take the red leader's jersey with her teammates sweeping up the rest of the classification leads. The Dutch team beat Canyon-SRAM by one second and Movistar by 12 seconds, with defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten in the latter camp.
How to watch
La Vuelta Femenina is being broadcast around Europe and live streamed worldwide. Find out how to watch the live stream from anywhere in our guide How to Watch La Vuelta Femenina.
History
2023 marks a fresh start for Spain’s major entry on the Women’s WorldTour, the inaugural edition of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, now expanded to a seven-day stage race, May 1-7. For the past eight editions, the race was known as Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, last crowning Annemiek van Vleuten as a champion in September after five days of racing.
The race started in 2015 as a one-day event, won by US sprinter Shelley Olds. Over the next seven years the Spanish race moved to the Women's WorldTour calendar and continued to add race days, landing on five stages in 2022.
Three riders have won consecutive titles, Jolien D'hoore in 2016-2017, Lisa Brennauer in 2019-2020 and Annemiek van Vleuten in 2021-2022.
In 2023, Van Vleuten’s Movistar team will be one of the 12 Women’s WorldTeams on the start line, along with 12 Continental squads. A significant number of the Continental teams are from Spain, nine total.
Now expanded by two additional days, the 2023 La Vuelta Femenina will cover 730.3km across a full week, including a high mountain grand finale on stage 7 to Lagos de Covadonga. The 16-kilometre ascent averages a gradient of 7.4%, and has been used 22 times in the Vuelta a España, conquered most recently by climbers Primož Roglič, Thibaut Pinot, and Nairo Quintana.
La Vuelta Femenina opens with a 14.5-kilometre team time trial before riders tackle several flat stages. Stage 4 to Guadalajara features a climb over the 4km slopes of the Alto de Hurche, and then the climbing kicks into high gear. Stage 5 has the category 1 Puerto de Navafría at the mid-point and then a 5km climb of Mirador de Peñas Llanas to the finish line.
The penultimate stage serves up a pair of category 2 climbs, the Alto de Fuente de las Baras and Puerto de Campo el Hayal, before the massive final day of racing. Stage 7 is just 93.7km in length, but with the category 2 Collado Moandi mid-stage and the summit finale on the Lagos de Covadonga, it will serve as the main attraction for the week.
2023 La Vuelta Femenina route
Route map for seven-day 2023 La Vuelta Fememina (Image credit: Unipublic)
La Vuelta Femenina begins May 1, 2023 with a 14.5-kilometre team time trial. The next three days are flat, with stage 2 to Pilar de la Horadada having one small climb 20km from the finish. A pan-flat stage 3 to La Roda is even better suited to the sprinters.
The overall contenders get a warm-up for the mountains ahead on stage 4 to Guadalajara, which climbs over the Alto de Horche, a 4km ascent averaging around a 4.5% grade. The climbs get far more serious on stage 5 with the category 1 Puerto de Navafría mid-stage a finish on the 5km long Mirador de Peñas Llanas at 1,483 metres in altitude.
The penultimate stage is just 106.7 kilometres long with two category 2 climbs, the Alto de Fuente de las Baras and Puerto de Campo el Hayal. However, organisers have saved the best for last: a 93.7km stage with the category 2 Collado Moandi mid-stage and the summit finale on the Asturian giant of Lagos de Covadonga.
La Cabrera - Mirador de Peñas Llanas. Riaza, 129.5
11:45 CET
15:30 CET
Stage 6 - May 6
Castro-Urdiales - Laredo, 106.1km
12:20 CET
15:30 CET
Stage 7 - May 7
Pola de Siero - Lagos de Covadonga, 93.7km
12:40 CET
15:30 CET
La Vuelta Femenina race history
La Vuelta Femenina was first held in 2015 as a one-day race, named Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. Over the next seven editions in September, it grew to a five-day stage race. In 2023 the event has a new name, a new calendar slot in May and has grown to seven stages to solidify its top ranking as a Grand Tour.
The race started in 2015 as a one-day event, won by US sprinter Shelley Olds. The race was added to the Women's WorldTour calendar the following year, where Jolien D'hoore won back-to-back editions in 2016 and 2017.
Expanding to a two-day race in 2018, Ellen van Dijk, then racing for Team Sunweb, claimed the overall title largely due to a commanding opening team time trial. Recently retired Lisa Brennauer went on to win consecutive titles in 2019 as a two-day race and in 2020 when the race moved into a three-day format.
Annemiek van Vleuten then took over with back-to-back titles the last two years at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. At the 2021 race, she dominated the individual time trial and the mountain stage to secure overall victory, while in 2022 the Movistar rider attacked on the Fuente las Varas, the penultimate climb of stage 2, and jumped into a lead she would carry to the conclusion on stage 5 in Madrid.
