AG Insurance - Soudal to Vuelta España Femenina

AG Insurance - Soudal to Vuelta España Femenina

Seven stages, more than 14000 meters of elevation and a finish on the legendary Angliru for the 11th edition.

We are only a few days away from the first Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta España Femenina, which runs between 3-9 May over a course that starts from Galicia and concludes in Asturias. It will be a climbers-heavy route, one that favours the attackers and puncheurs in the first five days, with a single exception on the roads to A Coruña, where the sprinters should shine.

The penultimate stage brings the race’s first summit finish on Les Praeres, a brutal climb nearly four kilometres long with an average gradient of 13%; the maximum slope reaches 23%, enough to pour lead into the riders’ legs and reshuffle the overall standings. Sunday schedules the last and also the longest stage of the race, one featuring one of cycling’s most iconic climbs, in the misty mountains of Asturias: the Angliru.

More than 12 kilometers in length and boasting a 9.7% average gradient, Angliru rises more than 1500 meters above sea level, a savage ascent where the riders can’t hide. On top of that, it features a goat track section - the infamous Cueña les Cabres - which peaks at 23%, setting the stage for a dramatic conclusion to this year’s La Vuelta.

AG Insurance - Soudal arrives in Spain with a strong team capable of making an impact on the race regardless of the terrain. Multiple ITT National Champion Mireia Benito, Shari Bossuyt - coming here after an impressive spring classics campaign - Lore De Schepper, Marthe Goossens, the experienced Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who has more than a dozen Grand Tour starts in her career, Julie Van De Velde, and Urska Zigart will be our seven riders for the season’s first Grand Tour.

“It’s going to be a hard Vuelta, as always, never flat, and always up and down. The last two days are especially demanding and will change the way the ranking looks. We go there with the goal to do a good general classification with Urska, but we would also like to fight for a stage win. We have a balanced team and multiple options, and the whole squad is motivated to shrug off the bad luck we had in the spring and make the most out of it as we start a new and exciting part of the season”, said sports director Fien Delbaere.