"In the final few hundred metres I didn’t have the best position" - Charlotte Kool misses out on La Vuelta Femenina stage win to Marianne Vos
Cycling
In a frantic bunch sprint finish to stage 3 of the 2024 La Vuelta Femenina, Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Charlotte Kool was forced to settle for second place behind Marianne Vos.
“Today’s stage was really hard from the start. To be honest I didn’t believe it could end in a bunch sprint with how it started," Kool reflected in a post-stage interview with her team's official website. "On the main climb the pace was hard but it was actually okay all things considered, and we came back in a group with the help of the girls. Then in the final Daniek did really well helping in the chase. It was really tough then in the deep final as Visma of course tried to make it as hard as possible on any of the climbs and the punchy finish."
Having had such a hard day attempting to stay at the front, Kool just didn't have the power left in her legs to fire to the stage win in the finale. "Juliette and Eleonora did amazing in the lead-out to bring me forward in the last couple of kilometres. Then in the final few hundred metres I didn’t have the best position and I really missed a bit in my legs after the hard stage," she admits. "I had some momentum but it was too far to go and had to wait to open up the sprint, and in the end it wasn’t enough for the win. I’m really happy that we gave everything and we tried together, and hopefully tomorrow it is a pure bunch sprint.”
As Kool touched upon there, stage 4 is likely to be a more traditional sprint stage and as such, the 24-year-old Dutchwoman will fancy her chances of matching her feat from 2023 and taking a La Vuelta Femenina stage win.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
That was a punchy finale 🥵 Vos takes the win in the sprint while @charlotte_kool gives everything to the line and takes 🥈 place with us.👏🏻 #KeepChallenging #LaVueltaFemenina
Write a comment