Marianne Vos leads reduces peloton for second with Demi Vollering third
La Vuelta Femenina 2025: Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx-Protime wins stage 4 after solo attack in final 7km(Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) took the first victory of her comeback by winning stage 4 of La Vuelta Femenina. The former World Champion attacked on the descent from the Puerto de El Buste, 7km from the finish line, and held off the chasing group for a solo victory.
Twelve seconds later, Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) beat Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) to second place in the sprint of a group of 18 riders. Red jersey Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) finished seventh and keeps the overall lead due to bonus seconds picked up at the intermediate sprint.
“I did not expect this at all. It was not the plan, but we were with a small group in the downhill, and at that point, I was alone. The speed went out, and I saw a good moment, so I went. I did not expect to arrive solo, but it feels really nice,” said Van der Breggen after the finish.
“We knew it could be a hard last climb. We wanted to be there with Mischa [Bredewold], Gerri [Femke Gerritse] and me, but in the end it was a really small group. The strategy was actually to try with Gerri again,” Van der Breggen explained.
Femke Gerritse of SD Worx-Protime rides stage 4 in the Red Leader Jersey (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Going into the first mountain stage, Gerritse retains the GC lead, now five seconds over Van der Breggen and 11 seconds ahead of Vos. Van der Breggen is now the best-placed GC contender, 17 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Vollering.
Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) retains the red leader's jersey on stage 4 while Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) carries the green points classification jersey. (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
How it unfolded
The 111.6km stage from Pedrola to Borja included two classified climbs, the second-category Alto del Moncayo and the third-category Puerto de El Buste, which crested just 11.6km from the finish line.
There were many attempts to establish a breakaway, but none of the moves lasted for more than a few kilometres, and the peloton started the Alto del Moncayo climb together.
Italian Erica Magnaldi of UAE Team ADQ attacks (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
The climb was tackled at a steady but not too hard pace until Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) attacked just under two kilometres from the top. The Italian climber was caught by Maud Oudeman (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) a kilometre later, and the peloton reeled them all in soon after.
With the QOM in sight, Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) went for the mountain points and took the virtual lead in the mountain classification while Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) led the peloton across the top.
Justine Ghekiere of AG Insurance-Soudal, Romy Kasper of Human Powered Health and Josie Nelson of Team Picnic PostNL compete in the chase group (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
After the descent, teams prepared for the intermediate sprint in Novallas. SD Worx-Protime led out Gerritse, and Vollering latched onto her former teammates. Visma-Lease a Bike tried to lead out Vos but fell behind, and Vos had to sprint across to Bredewold, Gerritse, and Vollering before trying to go for the line. Gerritse won the sprint and six bonus seconds ahead of Vollering and Vos.
On the five-kilometre Puerto de El Buste, Valentina Cavallar (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) was the first to make a move, taking Muzic and Mareille Meijering (Movistar) along with her. After Magnaldi bridged the gap to the front trio, Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) closed the move down halfway up the climb, and Movistar then controlled the pace in a peloton that still counted 30 to 40 riders.
Valentina Cavallar of Arkéa-BB Hotels leads the climb (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Meijering attacked again 1.5km from the top, but Muzic and Vollering were on her wheel immediately and did not let her get away. Only when Liane Lippert (Movistar) launched an attack 600 metres from the top of the climb did the peloton explode. Muzic led a group of about 15 riders across the QOM sprint to take the lead in the mountain classification; she will wear the polka-dot jersey on stage 5.
Vollering and her teammate Juliette Labous both tried to get away on the false flat before the descent but could not get a gap. Instead, Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) used her trademark descending skills to attack at the 10km mark and eke out a small advantage. Vollering bridged across the gap with 8km to go, and the rest of the group returned as well.
Demi Vollering of FDJ-SUEZ crosses the finish line (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Gerritse was still in a chasing group about 15 seconds behind, so Van der Breggen then took the opportunity to attack herself, opening a gap on the winding roads. Through the technical last kilometre in Borja, Van der Breggen increased her advantage to 12 seconds and could celebrate the first victory in her comeback campaign.
Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx-Protime celebrates at podium as stage 4 winner (Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
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