"I did my best and it just wasn’t enough": Anna van der Breggen dethroned on the Angliru

The fearsome slopes of the Alto de l'Angliru delivered a spectacular finale to La Vuelta Femenina 2026, completely rewriting the general classification on the final day. Paula Blasi executed a flawless turnaround to dethrone race leader Anna van der Breggen, who finished in second in the GC. While the stage honors ultimately belonged to a surging Petra Stiasny, it was Blasi's decisive strike against the SD Worx - Protime leader that sealed her overall victory in one of the most grueling finales in women's cycling history.

Heading into the decisive final stage, Anna van der Breggen appeared comfortably in control of the red jersey following a dominant victory on Les Praeres just 24 hours earlier. However, the Angliru is infamous for breaking the strongest of riders, and its brutal upper gradients lived up to their reputation.

Starting the day in second place overall, Blasi had exactly one objective: isolate and drop the race leader. As the gradients ramped up into the double digits, Van der Breggen's control finally cracked. Blasi accelerated away, leaving the Dutch legend battling just to limit her losses.

Up the road, Petra Stiasny produced a sensational ride of her own, as she managed to catch and surge past Blasi in the final kilometers, claiming a stunning solo stage victory. But just behind her, Blasi crossed the line knowing she had done more than enough to overturn the deficit and win the 2026 Vuelta a España Femenina.

"I feel pretty tired, and disappointed," van der Breggen admitted after crossing the finish line, ultimately settling for second in the general classification. "The climb was quite hard. I did my best and it just wasn’t enough. Paula Blasi is a very strong rider who will be an important GC contender in grand tours in the future - and, well, already in the present."

Before the peloton even hit the lower slopes of the Angliru, there was still the matter of the points classification to settle. Lotte Kopecky, who had surrendered the red jersey on Les Praeres and transitioned into a domestique role for Van der Breggen, was still heavily favored to take home green.

Guided by Mischa Bredewold at the final intermediate sprint, Kopecky comfortably secured her lead. Although Franziska Koch beat her across the intermediate line, the points differential was far too small to threaten the Belgian world champion's hold on the classification.

Reflecting on the grueling final stage and her own success throughout the week, Kopecky offered praise for the pure climbers who battled for the overall win.

"It’s sad that Anna could not pull off the win, but this climb was grueling and it was quite close, as 30 seconds is not a big gap," Kopecky stated. "Full respect for the women who had to go all out up the Angliru. As for me, I was pretty steady throughout the week and felt quite strong in the first five stages, which has allowed me to win the Points classification. We’ll see if I chase more green jerseys in the future."