Blasi wins La Vuelta Femenina in historic Angliru finish as Stiasny rises for stage victory

Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) won the 2026 La Vuelta Femenina, overturning an 0:18 deficit on Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) on the slopes of L’Angliru, as Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health) claimed victory on stage 7 atop the monstrous climb.

After Van der Breggen moved into the race lead following victory on stage 6, the GC battle was far from decided with a summit finish atop one of the most notoriously difficult climbs in cycling and only a slender 0:18 advantage over the Spanish rider.

The race-defining moment came with 4km to go when Blasi responded to an acceleration from Marion Bunel (Visma | Lease a Bike), and a gap opened to Van der Breggen. 

The gap quickly swelled, and Blasi pushed on in front. Despite the strength of Blasi, Swiss rider Stiasny managed to catch the Spanish rider and ride clear with 2km remaining, soloing to the biggest victory of her career. 

The stage victory wasn’t the priority for Blasi, who managed to power home for 2nd on the stage, 0:23 behind Stiasny, who was not a threat on GC. 

Most importantly, Van der Breggen finished 5th on the stage, 0:59 behind Stiasny, meaning that Blasi had done more than enough to win the GC. 

It marks the sixth victory of Blasi’s career, following her recent victory at the Amstel Gold Race Ladies, as the 23-year-old continues to establish herself as one of the best riders in the peloton. In addition, Blasi becomes the first Spanish rider to win La Vuelta Femenina. 

Blasi’s final GC advantage was 0:24 over Van der Breggen in 2nd, while Bunel rounded out the podium in 3rd at 0:49.

A high-calibre breakaway formed featuring sisters Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) as well as Liane Lippert (Movistar). The trio naturally cooperated well, leaving the peloton with their work cut out, well before the Angliru.

Once the breakaway hit the Angliru, it was Lippert who pushed on, leaving the Markus sisters behind; meanwhile, Uno-X Mobility led a reduced peloton up the lower slopes of the climb.

With 6.6km remaining, Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek)accelerated at the front of the peloton, which stretched out the group. Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health) was the next up the pace, reducing the group to Van der Breggen and Valentina Cavallar (SD Worx-Protime), Marion Bunel (Visma | Lease a Bike), Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ), Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez). 

All the while, Lippert continued to power on out in front, but the German’s advantage was dwindling to the GC group, and the catch was made with 5.4km remaining, as Lippert was distanced shortly after. 

Stiasny continued to set the tempo inside the final 5km as Cavallar looked to be struggling, while Urška Žigart and Barbara Malcotti were within 10 seconds of the front group.

Bunel accelerated with 4.5km remaining, which put the rest of the group under pressure, and the French rider managed to open a small gap just a few hundred metres later. Blasi led the chase behind, and the Spanish rider began to open an advantage on the race leader Van der Breggen and closed to Bunel with 4km to go.

Van der Breggen was then distanced by Berthet and Stiasny, as Blasi opened a small advantage on Bunel with 3.5km to go, seemingly on her way to winning the Vuelta. 

Stiasny managed to catch Blasi with 2km remaining, passing and distancing the Spanish rider on a steep hairpin. Blasi was still in a strong position to take the race lead.

Stiasny still held a strong lead under the flamme rouge, hammering home her advantage on the final steep metres, before the downhill run-in to the finish, claiming the biggest win of her career. Meanwhile, Blasi time trialled her way to the finish line behind the Swiss rider, doing enough to also claim the biggest victory of her career.