Returning for its twelfth edition, and its fourth since its rebrand and expansion to a week, the 2026 La Vuelta Femenina looks set to be the hardest yet.
That’s not because of the opening five stages, which are all pitched somewhere between flat days for the sprinters and hilly days for the puncheurs. Nor the penultimate stage summit finish of Les Praeres, which, though featuring brutal gradient averaging 13.5% and maxing at 20% for its 4km duration, doesn’t stand out from the climbs they’ve faced in previous editions.
Rather, it’s the final stage summit finish to the notorious Alto de L'Angliru that makes this edition of the Vuelta special. This will be the first time the mountain, considered by many to be the hardest in cycling, has appeared in the women’s race, and will therefore be one of, it not the, toughest climbing challenge these riders have ever faced.
While there are opportunities for time GC attacks and time gaps in the preceding stages, it’s the Angliru where this race will likely be decided and therefore this race will be one for the climbers. The best climber in the world right now, and winner of the last two editions, Demi Vollering, will be absent from the race as she prepares for the Giro d’Italia later in the month, so a new winner of the Vuelta will be crowned. But who?
CONTENDERS
PAULINE FERRAND-PRÉVOT
As reigning Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the standout candidate to inherit Demi Vollering’s crown as champion of La Vuelta. The way she mastered the Alpine climbs of Col de Joux-Plane and La Madeleine at that race suggests she’s fully equipped to take on the Angliru, even if the gradient here will be at another level of extremity. But is the Frenchwoman in the form to repeat such outstanding performances? Her spring produced impressive results, most notably podium finishes on the cobbles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but fell short of her achievements from twelve months ago. On paper, though, she’s the rider to beat.
Ferrand-Prévot has had a solid start to 2026 (Image: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
ANNA VAN DER BREGGEN
Four-time Giro d’Italia winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) never had much of a chance to win the Vuelta prior to her temporary retirement in 2022, at that time it was a short race without the major climbs that characterise its new incarnation. Now, she has a great chance to add it to her bulging palmarès, and already managed to finish third overall last year behind Vollering and Marlen Reusser - both of whom are missing this year. She hasn’t yet rediscovered her pre-retirement legs, but her form towards the end of the spring - including fourth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, despite being slowed down by a cold - indicates that she’s getting closer to those former levels.
Van der Breggen won a Vuelta stage last year (Image: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
KASIA NIEWIADOMA
On paper, it was a typical spring campaign for Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto), but she had to come back from a crash at Milan-Sanremo which put pay to her chances at Flanders. However, she was consistent as ever with impressive runner-up finishes at Omloop Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold, but without a victory to cap it off. She’s perhaps in her best element in a straightforward test of strength, so the steep slope of the Angliru, where tactical nuance goes out the window at the expense of sheer climbing power, could be perfect for her. The Vuelta is not a race she has traditionally excelled at, however, having never placed higher than tenth in any of her previous three appearances here, and much will depend on what stage her climbing form is at, as she aims to peak for her major season goal, August’s Tour de France.
Niewiadoma has made a quick comeback from a crash at Milan-Sanremo in March (Image: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
Read more: Road to recovery: how WorldTour riders are returning from injuries faster than ever
PAULA BLASI
Following a breakthrough spring, in which she backed up a surprise victory at Amstel Gold with third at La Flèche Wallonne and fifth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Paula Blasi suddenly looks like Spain’s best hope for a GC success at their home race. In the past that onus has fallen on her experienced UAE Team ADQ teammate Mavi García, but with her form dwindling since placing second overall at the Tour Down Under in January, the baton could be passed to her 23-year-old compatriot. Blasi can do it on the hills, but how will she perform in the all-important mountains? Top five finishes on GC at the Tour de Romandie and Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées last year suggests she has the foundations to improve her mountain climbing as she has her puncheur skills.
Read more: Cruelty and promise: how the youngest lit up the oldest Monument
Blasi enjoyed a storming Ardennes Classic campiagn (Image: Getty Images)
SARAH GIGANTE
At races like the Giro d’Italia, where she claimed two summit finish victories, and the Tour de France, where she was second overall before falling away on the descent during the final stage, Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) could stake a reasonable claim as being the best pure climber in the world. But she has not got to enjoy those legs since, after she broke her femur in a nasty crash in August, the latest in a career full of unfortunate injury setbacks. The Vuelta will be her first race back since then, following a long process of recovery, and so her form will be a mystery. She’s unlikely to be at her best, but if she can grow into the race and build her form, could be firing come the much-anticipated Angliru test.
Read more: Stop at nothing: Sarah Gigante's career of setbacks, perseverance and success
Gigante is one of the best climbers in the peloton (Image: AG Insurance-Soudal)
OTHER CONTENDERS
They will also likely be in the mix for the hillier and more undulating stages that follow, along with the likes of Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), whose form this spring has seen her place second at Milan-Sanremo and fifth at Amstel Gold, and Arlenis Sierra (Movistar), a dependable option in group sprint finishes.
As for the GC, FDJ United-Suez may be missing star Vollering, but have this year enjoyed plenty of success across their roster. At the Vuelta, it will likely be down to Juliette Berthet (formerly Labous) to lead the line, given her track record here of having finished fourth overall in 2024; though they also have Evita Muzic as a back-up option.
The stage racing form of Monica Trinca Colonel (UAE ADQ) and Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), who were second and third respectively at the UAE Tour, make them ones to watch, and though Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (ED Education-Oatly) may lack the climbing consistently to push for a high GG, they could both be contention for stage wins.
PREDICTION
While she hasn’t quite scaled the heights of her 2025 season yet this year, the Angliru provides Pauline Ferrand-Prévot another chance to excel on one of cycling’s grandest stages, and add La Vuelta to her ever expanding palmarès.
