Anna van der Breggen wins Vuelta a Burgos Feminas

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Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx) won stage 4 of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, finishing atop the 12.5-kilometre climb to Lagunas de Neila. On a challenging climb, only European champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) could stay with the world champion to the finish line, but Van der Breggen countered Van Vleuten's sprint to take the stage win and the overall victory in the Spanish Women's WorldTour stage race.

Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) came across the line in third place, followed by Pauliena Rooijakkers (Liv Racing), Clara Koppenburg (Rally Cycling), and Katrine Aalerud (Movistar Team), who had been in a big group of 30 riders that got away 50km from the finish.

“We needed to do something, the group in front had a lot of time at the beginning of the climb. We had Anna Shackley and Karol-Ann Canuel there, that was really good. But then Shackley was dropped from the first, so Karol started to do some work, and then Demi did a lot of work with a high speed. It was hard until the finish, and it was really steep in the end. I tried to make the best of it, and it worked out. I was feeling well, so I was waiting and had something left to counter an attack. In the end, I put the speed up a bit and it was enough to win,” the overall winner recounted the final climb," Van der Breggen said.

“It is a really nice climb, it is good to have a climb like this in the race. I think it was also a bit of a waiting game in the stages until now because we all knew this was the hardest part. It was great to have Niamh today in the leader’s jersey, she is 20 years old, and was actually leading three classifications going into the stage. We had a really good stage race here."

How it unfolded

None of the attacks on the first half of the 121.6-kilometre stage lasted for very long, but with 50 kilometres to go, a large group of 30 riders got away and built an advantage of 1:40 minutes.

This gap was reduced on the first climb of the day, cresting 23km from the finish, but some 14 riders still entered the finishing climb with an advantage of about 45 seconds. Halfway up the climb, only Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange), Aalerud, Anna Shackley (Team SD Worx), and Koppenburg remained in front, gaining time on the peloton again.

With an advantage of 1:30 minutes at the five-kilometre mark, Spratt and Aalerud dropped their two companions who, however, were able to come back. In the peloton, Canuel was leading the chase as more and more riders lost contact.

Spratt attacked again inside four kilometres to go, taking Aalerud with her, while Vollering now took over the chasing duties in the peloton. Koppenburg and Shackley came back to the front yet again with 2.5km left, though Shackley was dropped for good shortly afterwards.

Vollering had reduced the gap to 27 seconds at the two-kilometre mark, with only Van der Breggen, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team SD Worx), Van Vleuten, Rooijakkers, and Fisher-Black left on her wheel.

Uttrup Ludwig and Fisher-Black had to let go with 1.5km to go, and Moolman-Pasio dropped back to help the young New Zealander. Still led by Vollering, the favourites caught Spratt, who could not keep up, Rooijakkers also having to leave a gap as Vollering finally moved over with 1,100 metres left to race, still some 15 seconds behind Koppenburg and Aalerud.

Van der Breggen now took over the chase with only Van Vleuten on her wheel, but Vollering came back again after the one-kilometre mark and went to the front one final time, catching Koppenburg and Aalerud and then dropping them 700 metres from the line.

After that last turn, Vollering had to let go with 550 metres to go, and Van der Breggen led all the way to the line. Van Vleuten tried to attack her in one of the final turns, but Van der Breggen countered the acceleration well to win the stage and the overall classification as well as the points and mountain classifications. 

Fisher-Black won the U23 classification. 

With her second place overall, Van Vleuten took the lead in the Women’s WorldTour ranking from Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo).