The first Grand Tour of the 2025 season is upon us with the seven-day La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es set to begin with a team time trial on May 5 in Barcelona, where the prestigious team victory and the first red leader's jersey will be on the line.
The 2025 La Vuelta Femenina will begin on the Mediterranean coast in Barcelona and cross 748 kilometres to the west for a mountaintop finale at Cotobello in the Asturias. Along the way, there will be three mountain stages and three rolling stages to determine the overall champion on May 10.
Demi Vollering will line up as the defending champion and the outright favourite. However, her team, FDJ-SUEZ, arrives at this stage race with several cards to play when it comes to stage wins and the general classification.
The official start list is not yet available with several teams – including the formidable SD Worx-Protime, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, Lidl-Trek and UAE Team ADQ – yet to confirm their line-ups; however, Cyclingnews has begun selecting the first round of confirmed riders to watch. Further updates to this page will be made as teams finalise their rosters in the days leading up to the start of La Vuelta Femenina, so keep checking back for the latest information.
Demi Vollering lines up as the favourite for a repeat victory at La Vuelta Femenina based on her performance during this block of the season last year where she won all three Spanish stage races: La Vuelta, Itzulia Women and Vuelta a Burgos.
She has, once again, had a strong Spring Classic campaign with her new outfit FDJ-SUEZ supporting her to victories at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, Strade Bianche, along with podiums at Omloop, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Vollering will undoubtedly take some time to recover before turning her attention to these spring stage races, again, beginning with La Vuelta, as she aims for a title defence.
But, while the course and the climbs are well-suited to Vollering, FDJ-SUEZ is arguably the strongest team in the race, with two other cards to play in the general classification, Juliette Labous and Évita Muzic.
They were all on rival teams in last year's La Vuelta and all raced into the top five but together on FDJ-SUEZ they will be a tough team to beat in the mountains. They are all capable of winning stages and racing among the selection on the challenging parcours.
La Vuelta Femenina marks the first Grand Tour for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in her comeback to professional road racing. While she came into the season with form that was somewhat of an unknown among the road peloton, she ended up turning heads with a stellar Spring Classics campaign that included third at Strade Bianche, second at Tour of Flanders and victory at Paris-Roubaix.
Ferrand-Prévot retired from a sparkling mountain bike career after winning gold at the Paris Olympics, and returned to her road racing roots with Visma-Lease a Bike. The French rider is a 15-time world champion across road, cyclocross, mountain bike and gravel racing.
Her history in road racing is undeniable, not only a former world champion, but also a challenger in the biggest stage races while competing with teams Rabobank and Canyon-SRAM from 2012 to 2019. Her success in stage racing includes overall victory at the former Emakumeen Bira and second overall at the Giro d'Italia, both in 2014.
She opened this season with a 'warm-up' stage race at the UAE Tour Women, before tackling the one-day races this spring. Her performances on the road thus far have only strengthened her position as a major contender across challenging terrain. So far, there isn't anything Ferrand-Prévot cannot do and, while stage racing will bring a different range of challenges, she should not be underestimated in the hunt for the red jersey.
Mavi García (Liv Jayco AlUla)
Mavi García (Image credit: Getty Images)
Mavi García will line up as one of Spain's top contenders for the overall classification at La Vuelta Femenina. Racing for Liv Jayco AlUla, the former Spanish champion will be familiar with these roads having trained on them during her tenure in pro cycling and competed in several versions of this race.
Her highest place at La Vuelta Femenina was 9th in 2023 when the race moved into a seven-day format in May. Although she finished 20th last year, she will still be one of the main riders to watch as the leader of her team.
García is an all-rounder who often enjoys being part of the action and the breakaways. She excels in time trials, mid-mountain and high-mountain stages, making this La Vuelta Femenina a perfect combination for a rider like García.
She is coming out of the Spring Classics having placed fifth at Strade Bianche, but she hasn't raced since Milan-San Remo and will have likely opted to spend time training for this important block of Spanish racing that starts at La Vuelta but continues at Itzulia and Burgos.
Marlen Reusser and Liane Lippert (Movistar)
Marlen Reusser (Image credit: Getty Images)
Marlen Reusser and Liane Lippert make a powerful duo for this stage race, showcasing different yet compatible strengths that together will suit this parcours right from the team time trial to the punchy mid-mountains.
In her first season with Movistar, Reusser will likely target La Vuelta given it is a key race for the home team. While her strengths are in time trialling and breakaways, the Swiss rider has already proved herself at this event, having finished 13th while racing to support Vollering and SD Worx-Protime in last year's edition.
Reusser will undoubtedly have more opportunities to race for the general classification this year. Movistar enters the race with options for the overall and stage wins, but the team could end up with Reusser in the leader's jersey after the opening team time trial.
Still, the team also have Lippert, who is a potential stage winner, along with riders like Sara Martín, Olivia Baril, and Mareille Meijering, who could all challenge in the hilly terrain.
Check back again for a full list of contenders for the 2025 La Vuelta Femenina, with updates to roll out as competing teams finalise and announce their rosters.
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
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.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
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