La Vuelta Femenina 2026 starts on Sunday, May 3 with no defending champion, no time trial and a route designed to be decided on two of the steepest climbs in Spanish cycling. Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) has redirected her season towards the Giro d'Italia and a reduced pre-Tour build, skipping the race she won in 2025 and 2024. With her absence, the race is wide open with three key riders likely set to fight it out for the red jersey.
The seven stages cover around 820km through the regions of Galicia and Asturias with a really good mix of flat stages, punchy hilly days and two brutal summit finishes on Les Praeres and L'Angliru. There are early opportunities for riders to open the race up, however the final two days, l'Angliru especially, will hold a lot of space in riders minds and may hold them back from being too aggressive earlier in the race.
Race Stages
7 Stages • 819.5km total
| Stage | Date | Route | Distance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 3 | Marín > Salvaterra de Miño | 113.9 km | hilly |
| 2 | May 4 | Lobios > San Cibrao das Viñas | 109.8 km | hilly |
| 3 | May 5 | Padrón > A Coruña | 121.2 km | flat |
| 4 | May 6 | Monforte de Lemos > Antas de Ulla | 115.6 km | hilly |
| 5 | May 7 | León > Astorga | 119.6 km | flat |
| 6 | May 8 | Gijón/Xixón > Les Praeres, Nava | 106.5 km | mountain |
| 7 | May 9 | La Pola Llaviana > L'Angliru | 132.9 km | mountain |
The penultimate stage to Les Praeres is the first real challenge for the riders. The climb may only be 3.7km long but the average gradient is over 13%. It is an absolutely brutal way of introducing the major climbing into the race especially as the climb of l'Angliru follows just a day later to finish off the race with it's 13km long ascent and an average of just under 10% and the second half consistently above 20%. Les Praeres will open things up, but l'Angliru will deal the final crushing blow.
The favourites
With defending champion, Vollering, not racing it opens the race up nicely for a few other riders who have been close to the front but not quite had the winning touch this season.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) is the first rider that jumps off the startlist as a key favourite for the race. The former Tour de France Femmes winner has had a superbly consistent spring with her placing in the top 10 of all but one race she has competed in. The last stage race she took part in, though, was back in early February at the UAE Tour where she finished 5th behind Elisa Longo-Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), another rider missing from the startlist. Niewiadoma-Phinney's consistency recently with four podiums in her last seven races should put her in good stead for stage racing, though. Consistency is very definitely key to be able to be in with a shout of winning. Often it has only been Vollering in the way of the Polish champion and victory. With her absent, does that mean Niewiadoma-Phinney is the favourite for overall success?
One rider who will be very keen to keep Niewiadoma-Phinney in the lower steps of the podium is last year's third overall, Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx-Protime). One of the all-time greats of the sport, the former world champion knows what she needs to do to win. However, racing has come on a very long way in the short period she was out for her short lived retirement. That does not put her out of the fight, though. She has been another super consistent rider this spring without tasting victory. Her usual top form at the Ardennes shows that she is building well towards La Vuelta and she will surely be in the fight to win. She finished fifth at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and just missed out on the podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. Her form is clearly building well.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) is a tough one to call this season. She was magnificent in the Cobbled Classics taking second at the Tour of Flanders for a second year running before finishing third at Paris-Roubaix Femmes. However, the 2025 Tour de France Femmes champion hasn't really shone on the hillier terrain. She missed the split at Strade Bianche and then got caught with Vollering and co when they went the wrong way but in the recent Liège-Bastogne-Liège she finished well down in 22nd place. It isn't known if there has been an issue or if she is just building her form differently. She is clearly riding well, that was shown at Roubaix and Flanders, but does she have the climbing form she will need to really challenge the likes of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Van der Breggen?
How FDJ United-SUEZ race without their leader
FDJ United-Suez have been a dominant force this season so far with Vollering taking her pick on races she wants to win, seemingly. The only time she failed, at Strade Bianche, her teammate Elise Chabbey (FDJ United-SUEZ) was victorious. Both have been on flying form. So, what does that mean for this race with both riders missing?
Well, the French team are very fortunate to have an abundance of riches in their lineup. They come to La Vuelta Femenina with a two pronged attack of Évita Muzic (FDJ United-SUEZ), former stage winner and top 5 finisher in 2024, and Juliette Labous who finished fifth in this race last year and has shown exceptional consistency working for Vollering.
Both will work together to try and take the best places in GC that they can. Having the two riders vying for the top spot in the race could either be a tactical headache or a useful asset when it comes to a reduced down group on the tougher terrain.
Beyond the main focus of the big three names there are still a long list of riders who could challenge and maybe even compete for victory. Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) is a standout name who managed to finish seventh in this race last year. In 2026 she has looked good with multiple top 20s as well as second overall at the UAE Tour and a top 10 at Strade Bianche.
Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) hasn't been really on the form she would probably have hoped for this year, but the Slovenian climber may have been building towards these stage races to open up for a very big summer of racing. Last year she finished in the top 10 at the Tour de Suisse and Giro d'Italia, so La Vuelta should suit her attributes.
UAE Team ADQ do not come to the race with Longo-Borghini on the startlist but with two Spanish hopefuls at very different ends of their careers. Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ) comes into the race as the oldest rider with the 42-year-old still riding very well with some great results seeing her take second in GC at the season opener of the Tour Down Under before riding more as a domestique for her teammates in Europe.
One of those teammates is rising star Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ). The 23-year-old has had a meteoric rise this year with a podium Down Under and the QOM jersey to then being regularly in the top 10 once in Europe. Her recent form saw her take a magnificent solo win at Amstel Gold Race before finishing third and fifth at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège–Bastogne–Liège respectively. She is a real dark horse for this race.
One rider who is said to be making her season debut. Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) finished her season in 2025 after missing out on the Tour de France Femmes podium, despite being the second best climber at the race. However, her season came to a crashing end as the Australian crashed while training, breaking her femur in the process. Her comeback has taken a long time but it is said that she should be racing in north-western Spain alongside her AG Insurance-Soudal teammates. We should be realistic, though. She has had a long time out and shouldn't have loads of expectations placed on her, even though the route suits her down to the ground.
One more outsider is Canadian Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike). She has shown some really good form so far this year with a top 5 at the Tour Down Under and several solid results in Europe. However, she did DNF at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, so we will see where her form is at in her likely support role for Ferrand-Prévot.
It is also worth mentioning that two of the sport's superstar Classics riders, Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) will also be racing. They are the two standout fast riders for the sprint and hilly stages in Spain and will likely dominate the early part of the race.
My prediction
It is always so hard to predict how a race will pan out in the women's side of the sport, I will have a crack though. My podium pick will be that Niewiadoma-Phinney takes the title, one she really deserves after a superbly consistent sprint. Then for second place on the podium I'll say Paula Blasi will continue her superb 2026 with Van der Breggen completing the top three.
The points jersey is a bit of a safe choice but Vos is just so good it would be rude not to say that she'll take green. The mountains jersey to Niewiadoma-Phinney as I imagine she'll take l'Angliru and be right up there on Les Praeres so will take it by default. The best young rider will, obviously, belong to Blasi.
Whether I'm right or not, time will tell. But one thing is sure, this race should be a cracker on some brutal terrain in a very beautiful part of Spain.
Cover image credit: Alex Berasategi
