Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 6 (106k) of La Vuelta Femenina in a dramatic photo finish with Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team). By finishing more than a minute ahead of the peloton Van Vleuten became GC leader. Loes Adegeest (FDJ-SUEZ) won the peloton sprint to take third.
It was Gaia Realini’s first World Tour victory and signals her potential, especially as a climber, in future stage races. This is her first year with Trek-Segafredo in a 3 year contract that runs until the end of 2025.
The bigger story, however, was how Van Vleuten and her Moviestar team stole the thunder from SD Worx on Saturday.
The excitement started early on when Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) and her teammates decided to take a pee stop at around 30k right at the same moment that Moviestar decided to accelerate into a crosswind. Chaos immediately ensued and SD Worx quickly found themselves behind trying to catch up to Moviestar and Trek-Segafredo who were driving the pace. By the finish, Vollering and her teammates had lost more than a minute on Van Vleuten.
At the finish, both SD Worx and Moviestar defended their position, with SD Worx crying foul, and Moviestar asserting that they had followed a pre-race strategy to attack in the crosswind section of the route. “We had a very clear plan this morning. We knew it was an unprotected area with a big bridge and with strong crosswind,” said Moviestar, further adding, “[SD Worx] made a huge mistake stopping in the worst possible moment for a pee.”
SD Worx had their own view of what happened. “Our riders pulled over for a pee break with a few more riders from other teams. Movistar, Jumbo-Visma and Trek-Segafredo went all-out. The wind was not even really a crosswind, it was more of a headwind.”
Sunday’s final stage will be 93.7k from Pola de Siero to Lagos de Covadonga and feature a final climb of 12.5k averaging 6.9%.
Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ceratzit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2023/stage-6
More Info.
Official Website: Vuelta Femenina
