Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) won stage 7 of La Vuelta Femenina on Sunday, but failed to take the overall lead from Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) after dropping her on the Lagos de Covadonga. By the time Van Vleuten crossed the finish line in third place the GC difference was only a scant 9 seconds between the two rivals. The 21 year old Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) placed second and was able to keep pace with Vollering right up until the end.
It was Realini who initiated the attack 5.4km from the top that dropped Van Vleuten. At first, Vollering was only able to follow, but once she realized Van Vleuten was in difficulty she took the lead and set a pace that gave her 56 seconds by the time she crossed the line. As the clock counted down, everyone waited wondering if Van Vleuten would make it or not. Then she emerged from the fog like a shadow, out of the saddle, sprinting to the line, with only 9 seconds to spare in the end.
Van Vleuten was ecstatic about her win. “I feel super happy and super super tired. I kept on fighting to the end, but I didn’t have the best day, maybe yesterday’s effort counted. But I never gave up. The team was amazing, and this is a team win.”
Vollering was less cheerful afterwards. “Two stage victories with the team is very nice. The battle for the standings was very close, but if things had turned out differently yesterday, we would have won it too.”
Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ceratzit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2023/stage-7/live/gc
