It's almost like she had never left. After 1404 days since her last road victory, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) crowned her comeback with a stage win at the Vuelta a España Femenina. After three seasons spent as a sports director, her second coming as a professional cyclist had already shown signs that the former road and Olympic champion wasn’t just pinning a number on for fun or to make up the numbers. She was coming back to win races.
In March at Strade Bianche she was second behind Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and then put in a number of solid performances in the Spring Classics, where her SD Worx team yet again were the strongest squad in the peloton. A multiple Monument winner, Van der Breggen is a master tactician, and her downhill attack to win stage four was emblematic of that. At the finish, she admitted her attack with just under 7km to go was not part of the team’s plan. It was all instinct. Whether on two wheels, or behind the steering wheel in the team car, Van der Breggen knows a winning move when she senses one.
The attack was the perfect combination of cunning race-craft, technical masterclass and the fitness to finish it off. But can this shape carry her to the maillot rojo at the end of the week? Ever since she announced she would return to racing, the prospect of Van der Breggen going up against her former teammate Demi Vollering at the Grand Tours like the Vuelta and the Tour de France Femmes has intrigued fans. Can the 35-year-old compete with the new stars of the peloton? Has the standard gone up in the last four years to the extent that even at her peak, Van der Breggen wouldn’t be able to challenge? Despite it only being four years since her last GC win at the Giro d’Italia Donne in 2021, cycling has changed a lot in that time.
Anna van der Breggen at the finish of stage four (Image: ASO / Naike Ereñozaga)
The Vuelta a España Femenina was a very different race; it was called the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, it was four stages long, and Van der Breggen wasn’t on the start line. It’s true that Vollering at her best seems unmatchable, but you only have to look back at last year’s Tour when Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) shocked the defending champion to hang on up Alpe d’Huez to claim the overall win. You wouldn’t put it past Van der Breggen to challenge for at least a podium at this week’s Vuelta and the Tour later in the summer. Her last road win was on stage two of that 2021 Giro, where she went on to win the overall title and in 2025, she’s back winning Grand Tour stages. In her past, she had a habit of racking up wins when she was on top form, was Wednesday's stage a sign of things to come?
Her victory has paved her route back to winning ways, but now her path to more success over the next few days becomes a whole lot more challenging — and mountainous. If her downhill attack was a masterclass in descending and astute racing, stages five and seven are all about fitness, watts-per-kilo and grit. The first big mountain top finish of the Women’s WorldTour season beckons tomorrow, atop the savage 6.5km 9.1% category one climb to Lagunas de Neila in the Sierra de la Demanda mountain range. The final climb is also preceded by the challenging Alto de Rozavientos (3.8km at 7.6%), so we can expect some decisive moves on the GC by the end of the day.
Van der Breggen is currently in second overall behind her teammate Femke Gerritse, who will likely lose the maillot rojo on stage five, but if Van der Breggen can compete with the likes of Vollering, Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Niewiadoma, she could inherit the jersey and be in red by Thursday evening night. Thanks to the time bonuses on the line, she has 17 seconds on Vollering, who will undoubtedly be looking for every opportunity to gain time on her rival. However, if Van der Breggen can go into the final couple of stages in the lead, she could hang on. The queen is back but she faces challengers to her throne. A showdown in the mountains awaits.
