Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) defended her purple leader's jersey in style on the fourth and final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, attacking on the steep climb to the Alto de Rozavientos and soloing to the finish to win 51 seconds ahead of Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) and 1:14 minutes ahead of Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ).
Brand had attacked with 30km to go and started the 3.5-kilometre climb a minute ahead, but Vollering passed her on the steepest part. Brand was also passed by Muzic just before the top but distanced the Frenchwoman again in the descent.
Although Brand closed the gap to Vollering to less than 20 seconds, the GC leader was too strong on the slightly-uphill finish and held off Brand for a solo victory, also winning the GC as well as the points and mountain classifications.
"This is really a relief," Vollering said. "The victories in Spain have comforted me after the wins in the classic spring were lacking. I hope to further improve this good condition towards my big goals this season: the Olympics, the Tour de France Femmes and the World Championships."
Vollering caps off the Spanish stage racing season with overall victories at La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women and Vuelta a Burgos.
How it unfolded
After the mass crash in the final of stage 3, 15 riders did not start stage 4 due to their injuries. One of them was Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility), meaning that the red mountain jersey moved to the shoulders of Claire Steels (Movistar Team).
There were many attempts to break away, but none of them lasted long before being brought back by the peloton. On the third-category Alto de Arroyo, cresting 49km from the finish, Steels took four points to extend her lead, but it would not be enough to hold off Vollering in the end.
On the descent, Brazilian champion Tota Magalhães (BePink-Bongioanni) attacked, and she built a one-minute advantage on the peloton. With 35.5km to go, 11 riders tried to make a move from the peloton, and most of them were reeled in by Marlen Reusser (SD Worx-Protime), but Brand bridged the 30-second gap to Magalhães.
Brand won the intermediate sprint and then dropped Magalhães on an unclassified climb, extending her advantage to over a minute on the descent to the foot of the Alto de Rozavientos. The 34-year-old Dutchwoman was no GC threat as she had stayed with her crashed teammate Elisa Balsamo on stage 1 and received her three-minute deficit for GC.
On the steep climb with an average gradient of 9.3 percent, the peloton was reduced to 20 riders, and Brand was only 27 seconds ahead halfway up. Vollering then made her move on the second half of the climb, dropping everyone else and soon passing Brand who could not follow the overall leader.
Like in the Itzulia Women the week before, Vollering soloed to the finish from the last classified climb, though the distance was only 15 kilometres this time. However, as there was no chasing group behind, Vollering won the stage by 51 seconds.
Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) finished fourth on the stage and held onto third place overall ahead of Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) whose team won the team classification. Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) finished sixth on the stage and moved up to fifth overall, winning the white jersey for the best U23 rider.
Results
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