"Right after our riders pulled over for a pee break, with a few more riders from other teams, Movistar, Jumbo Visma and Trek-Segafredo went into full ride," DS Anna van der Breggen explains. "While the wind was not even really on the side. It was rather more of a headwind at that point. Because the level difference in the Vuelta Femenina is quite big, a small group with about five riders was dropped. At that, the jury immediately decided that another barrage had to be made and the cars had to get out of the way. Then it becomes difficult to get back after a pee break."
The difference of over a minute was created and never again shut down. A strong ride from the
Team SD Worx rider still saw her joining the chasing group - which until van Vleuten had attacked was the head of the race - but at that point the win, and her race lead, were gone. Vollering ended up working together with some other riders to close down the gap ever so slightly in the run-up to the finish, however lost over a minute on the road to van Vleuten.
The World Champion is looking in form and in today's summit finish to Lagos de Covadonga it will be hard to take back time on her. Vollering still departs as the main rival but the 1:11 minutes separating the two will make it complicated to succeed in the mission.
"My legs were very good today. Hopefully that will still be the case tomorrow. I am hungry for revenge. I hope to put things right tomorrow (today, ed.)," she concluded.
