Vuelta Femenina | Second day success for Marianne Vos – Vollering loses a few seconds

It was a long wait for the race to kick off, but once the final got underway, the Vuelta Femenina delivered as usual. On the way to the wall, which led over 600 meters at 8 percent to the castle of Siguënza, the peloton broke up into several blocks on the Spanish plateau between Zaragoza and Madrid.

Yara Kastelijn was the biggest victim, and all the big names were present at the front. For a moment, Kastelijn seemed to be returning to the peloton, but then the wall loomed. The battle for the day’s victory was decided in no time, because Vos was the very best of the bunch.

The 36-year-old leader of Visma-Lease a Bike outsprinted Faulkner and Longo Borghini and could already start cheering halfway through. The force majeure was so great that Vos did not have to worry and could calmly look back. She did not make the same mistake as Lorena Wiebes.

It was the second time that Vos was alone in the finish photo, but if Vollering had positioned herself better – or had her SD-Worx team position her – she might have been able to go to the podium. Now she came fourth.

Red jersey wearer Vollering had to allow Longo Borghini to take four seconds back in the rankings. That is damage that the Dutch can suffer, but still. Vollering starts the final stage with a lead of 52 seconds over the Italian.

During the eighth and final stage there is still a lot of climbing on the program before the finish in Madrid. Vollering will have to work hard on Sunday to secure her first overall victory in the Vuelta.

1. Marianne Vos – 3:27:56
2. Kristen Faulkner – +0:02
3. Elisa Longo Borghini – st
4. Demi Vollering – st
5. Ingvild Gåskjenn – st

1. Demi Vollering – 20:47:59
2. Elisa Longo Borghini – +0:52
3. Riejanne Markus – +1:14
4. Juliette Labous +1:48
5. Niamh Fisher-Black +2:16