La Vuelta Femenina: SD Worx Masterclass in Final Sprint Before Mountains

SD Worx-Protime delivered a pitch perfect sprint to go 1-2 in the final opportunity Thursday before La Vuelta Femenina shifts to the brutal mountains of northern Spain.

Mischa Bredewold swapped roles with overnight leader Lotte Kopecky and instead of leading out her Belgian teammate, she bolted clear for a big win to give SD Worx-Protime its second win a row.

Kopecky coasted across the line second to defend red and gave her normal leadout rider the perfect runway to victory.

“This was a dream scenario for us and I really wanted to get this win after coming close last year,” said Bredewold, second in stage 6 in 2025. “The dream plan was that I would be given the freedom to sprint with Lotte in my wheel and that Lotte would come over me if needed.”

American Megan Jastrab — who raced to the best ever American finish at Paris-Roubaix Femmes last month — was sixth for UAE Team ADQ.

The final run-in was marred by a crash involving SD Worx-Protime GC candidate Anna van der Breggen. It appeared riders crossed wheels in the middle of the bunch as a sudden shower and winds added more chaos to the sprint finale.

“I almost managed to avoid the crash, but unfortunately not at the very last moment,” Van der Breggen said. “We had seen the rain clouds threatening for a while and unfortunately the rain started in the last three kilometers. It was extremely slippery. I was involved in the crash, but fortunately I am OK.”

Because the crash happened within 5km to go, there was no time difference taken for the riders who were involved in the spill.

La Vuelta changes gears Friday with the 106.5km stage 6 from Gijón to Les Praeres, ending atop a first-category summit.

The stage should see a major GC reshuffle and provide a preview of who has the legs for Saturday’s epic climb up the fearsome Angliru.

La Vuelta Femenina: Results stage 4