Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) soloed to victory on stage 8 of La Vuelta Femenina on Sunday ahead of Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike). In winning the stage, Vollering increased her overall GC lead by 1:49” over Markus and 2:00” over Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
“I’m really happy to win this stage,” said Vollering, “because it’s really nice to finish it off like this, we did a really good Vuelta, some podiums and two stage wins, so I think we can be very proud of ourselves.”
“I was a bit nervous because this last climb was difficult because there was headwind and it was not super-steep. There was one part where we turned a bit and had tailwind, there I thought: ‘I need to attack and I need to make sure I have a gap’ so that the rest also will have headwind when chasing me back. I could extend my gap and stay out.”
The race was played out on the final climb with a reduced peloton when Vollering attacked with more than six kilometers remaining. Elisa Longo Borghini was the first to try and follow, but couldn’t. It was then Markus, Kastelijn, Muzic, and Bauernfeind’s turn to try and follow, but they, too, soon fell off Vollering’s wheel. It was then a battle for the podium for the others.
As Vollering increased her lead, the battle for second place was played out between Longo Borghini and Markus. Markus was able to set the pace and pull away from the Italian champion gaining 20 seconds at he finish line, enough for her move up into second place on the GC and ahead of Longo Borghini.
Results Stage 8
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 2-43-06
2. Évita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-Suez, +29s
3. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +33s
4. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +53s
5. Ricarda Bauernfiend (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +56s
6. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +1-00
7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
8. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-Sram, both at same time
9. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +1-10
10. Kim Cadzow (NZl) EF Education-Cannondale, +1-28
Final General Classification
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 20-30-55
2. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1-49
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2-00
4. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +2-58
5. Évita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-Suez, +3-15
6. Ricarda Bauernfiend (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +4-33
7. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) SD Worx-Protime, +5-14
8. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +5-27
9. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +5-42
10. Kim Cadzow (NZl) EF Education-Cannondale, +6-19
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ceratzit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2024/stage-8
