Van der Breggen seizes control with hard-fought victory on La Vuelta Femenina stage 6

Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) climbed to victory on stage 6 of La Vuelta Fémenina, with a hard-fought victory atop the steep climb to Les Praeres, seizing control of the general classification with just one stage remaining.

The penultimate stage was always going to be important for the GC, with a finish on the steep climb to Les Praeres. With pouring rain thrown into the mix, it would quickly become a very attritional finish, but Van der Breggen thrived in the inclement conditions. 

Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) pushed the two-time World Champion all the way, remaining within distance, hoping that Van der Breggen would run out of power. 

However, Van der Breggen had enough in reserve to maintain her advantage and power to her first victory in a year, 0:08 ahead of Blasi and 0:29 of Marion Bunel (Visma | Lease a Bike) in 3rd.

In the process, Van der Breggen moves into the GC lead, taking the red jersey from her teammate Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), who was distanced from the peloton on the run-in to the final climb, setting her teammate up for success. 

Van der Breggen now leads the GC by 0:18, over Blasi in 2nd, while Bunel sits in 3rd at 0:41.

As difficult as the final climb was, it pales in comparison to the finale of the seventh and final stage, which concludes atop the mighty Angliru. With one of the most iconic climbs in cycling on the horizon, the race is far from decided. 

A four-rider breakaway formed featuring Sterre Vervloet (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies), Gaia Masetti (Picnic PostNL), Marine Allione (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), and Elisa Valtulini (Vini Fantini-BePink).

Aniek van Alphen (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Léa Rondel (Mayenne Monbana My Pie) were chasing the quartet but were unable to bridge the gap.

It was a difficult start to the stage for UAE Team ADQ as Mavi García and Paula Blasi suffered minor crashes before Maeva Squiban suffered a crash, which forced the French rider to abandon the race.

Race leader Kopecky suffered a problem of her own, which saw the race leader chasing back to the peloton for a considerable period, but the Belgian would return well before the finale.

With 11.5km to go, the final two riders remaining from the break, Masetti and Vervloet, were swept up, as Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike) suffered a crash.

Kopecky worked on the front of the peloton for her SD Worx team and Van der Breggen, and was distanced with 7km remaining on the final run-in to the climb.

Stage 3 winner Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) blasted up the steep lower slopes forming a select group, as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot found herself distanced. 

Van der Breggen seized control of the tempo setting with 3.5km remaining, with only Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto), Blasi and Bunel able to follow. 

Niewiadoma was distanced with 3km remaining, as Van der Breggen continued to turn the screw, and only Blasi remained locked on the wheel, as Bunel was a couple of bike lengths behind.

But just a few hundred metres later, Van der Breggen opened a gap on Blasi. However, Blasi kept the gap stable to the stage leader, as both riders time trialled their way up the punishing gradients. 

Van Der Breggen navigated the steepest gradients and hammered home her advantage in the final kilometre to take a hard-fought stage victory.