Vuelta Femenina GC: Vollering and Niewiadoma gain, Realini loses in stage 4 crosswinds

The Vuelta Femenina hasn’t even reached the real hills yet, but the general classification and battle for the red jersey is already starting to take shape after crosswinds and an assault from SD Worx-Protime saw a nearly two-minute gap open between the main favourites on stage 4.

Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale) won the stage with a late attack, and Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) moved into the race lead by virtue of bonus seconds, but it’s further down the GC standings where the intrigue lies.

Read more: Vuelta Femenina stage 4: Kristen Faulkner wins thrilling stage with late solo attack

Halfway through the race, with the opening team time trial only offering up small margins of difference, stage 4 saw the first real gaps open up. In the battle of the pre-race favourites, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) were the main beneficiaries, as their efforts in the echelons successfully distanced Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) who was the big loser of the day, finishing two minutes adrift of the winner.

With some big moves on the GC ahead of the race’s first uphill finish on stage 5, here’s a closer look at the winners and losers at the end of an action-packed day in Spain.

The winners: SD Worx-Protime take control and Vollering benefits

The big winners, and arguably the team that made the race situation what it was, are SD Worx-Protime. As soon as the crosswinds hit 30km into the stage, it was the Dutch team that were drilling it on the front, and they placed five riders in the 19-rider front group, meaning they were able to set the pace and ultimately ensure the move went, and stayed, away. Marlen Reusser and her powerful engine were instrumental in this, and the result was that their leader Demi Vollering jumped up the standings to seventh, with Reusser, Niamh Fisher-Black and Mischa Bredewold all in the top 13.

After SD Worx and Vollering were defeated by a controversially-timed onslaught from Movistar in last year’s Vuelta, the team were clearly keen to flip the narrative this year, and would have been fuelled by revenge as they took it to the likes of Movistar and Lidl-Trek on Wednesday afternoon.

In terms of her GC rivals, Vollering now sits behind only Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) and Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the GC, and even then that’s only three and one seconds respectively – not much of a difference. Having Fisher-Black and Reusser in the top 10 also gives the team some strong back-up options. They ceded the race lead as Blanka Vas handed red to Vos, due to bonus seconds, but that's a small price to pay given how well the day went for their main GC hopes.

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Marlen Reusser and Elena Cecchini work on the front of the lead group

Though it wasn’t a good day for Realini, her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini did get into the front group, and now sits fourth overall after picking up two bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint. Longo Borghini wasn’t slated to be the team’s leader, but that may change now, and as a non-pure climber, she should benefit from having an advantage over the lighter riders like Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco). Wednesday’s results could be the difference between a top 10 and a top 5, or better, for the Italian.

Another rider who can be very happy with the outcome of stage 4 is Kasia Niewiadoma, who moves into 10th, and again has a good buffer now over the really pure climbers. The Pole is clearly on good form, and has been fighting for every position and second so far this race, so it’s a big win to take a good chunk of time ahead of the climbs. Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) is also in a good position in sixth ahead of the big climbs, which will be her weakness.

Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) may be sitting outside the top 10 on GC for now, but have gained on stage 4 by being in the front group, particularly as both were alone in the lead and without support. Time lost in the previous stages has cost them both a little, but as strong climbers they are capable of making that back in the stages to come.

The losers: Realini and Movistar caught out

The main loser on stage 4 was undoubtedly Lidl-Trek’s Gaia Realini, who finished in the second main group, two minutes down on race winner Faulkner and 1:50 down on many of her key GC rivals. Third overall in this race last year, Realini was hoping for another podium this year, but stage 4 has put a hurdle in that plan.

Things went wrong quite quickly for Realini, who was totally out of position when the splits happened, and was as far down as the fourth group before things regrouped into a chase. It’s not fully surprising that a rider as small as Realini should struggle in the crosswinds, but she is usually a fair punchy rider, and there are questions around how Longo Borghini was in the right place but supposed leader Realini was not.

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Lizzie Deignan and Elynor Bäckstedt trying to bring Realini back to the chase group

The Italian got back to the second group, and had Lizzie Deignan, Brodie Chapman and Amanda Spratt for company, but Lidl-Trek just couldn’t close the gap to the SD Worx-led group powering on ahead, especially missing powerhouse Ellen van Dijk, who did not start the stage. Realini is ‘only’ 18th on GC after riding well so far this week, but with a 1:50 deficit to close to the likes of Vollering and Niewiadoma, it’s a big ask to save her overall hopes.

The other team who lost out in the crosswinds were Movistar, who are the defending champions in this race, and had the tables turned on them on Wednesday. Their GC interests this week were split between the returning Liane Lippert and Olivia Baril, both hoping for perhaps a top-10 finish, though the podium was probably out of reach, but even this is now a challenge after both riders missed the split and lost time on Wednesday. The Spanish team worked hard to close things down, but ultimately couldn’t, and as all-rounders rather than pure climbers, it’s hard to see where Lippert and Baril might make time back.

Other riders whose GC hopes took a blow on Wednesday include Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) whose depleted squad struggled in the crosswinds, and the Australian is now 2:43 down on red, though this could open up her opportunities for a stage win. Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco) sit at 2:20, but are in touching distance of the top 10.

EF Education-Cannondale will be celebrating today, having won the stage through Faulkner, who may also be a GC threat, but they saw Kim Cadzow and Magdeleine Vallieres both fall down the rankings, also 2:20 down on the leader.

Of course, in the mountains that are still to come, even two-minute gaps can change quickly, but with most of the strongest GC riders – Vollering, Niewiadoma, Labous – already on the front foot, every rider who lost time in Zaragoza has a big challenge ahead if they want to rescue a top-5 finish

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