New leader of La Vuelta Femenina Letizia Paternoster gets emotional: "Being in the leader jersey feels amazing"
Cycling
Marianne Vos may have won the second stage of La Vuelta Femenina, but after a horror team time trial of Visma the day earlier, it's today's runner-up Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) who claims the overall lead. And it's not an exaggeration to say she may have been happier than winner Vos...
"Being in the leader jersey feels amazing. I’m a little bit emotional," Paternoster struggles to find the right words to express her feelings after taking on the red jersey. "I’m happy for me and for the team, because all the people I have around really deserve this. I finally feel really good, mentally and physically, and that’s the best thing that can happen."
That the ways of destiny are unfathomable she knows the best since the 25-year-old Italian wasn't even originally scheduled to race in Spain. "It was not in the plan to participate in La Vuelta Femenina, but then in the Ardennes my team and I decided that it was a good idea to come here," she explains the change of plans. I said before the start that I wanted to enjoy the race and do my best from the team time trial, on which I could be a good support for our GC riders."
"I felt really good after yesterday’s stage," Paternoster adds. That motivated her to give it her best in a stage with slightly uphill arrival to Sant Boi de Llobregat. "I wanted to try and win it because I saw the final and I felt it could really suit me."
"It was a hard stage. I tried to attack on the descent, as it was quite technical and I like riding downhill. The final was tricky and dangerous, as it was really wet. Marianne Vos was better than me in the last corner and it was impossible to net the victory. This second place was the most that I could achieve today. But afterwards they told me I was in the Red Jersey, and it was a big emotion for me."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- 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
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- 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
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- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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