00:00 [Music]
00:28 And what does this victory mean for you for the rest of the season?
00:32 It's a good start. I hope I can do some other really nice stage races of course.
00:42 I'm looking really much forward to the rest of the season.
00:47 [Music]
00:51 Rianne, Marcus and me were in this final break when the echelon started.
00:58 And yeah, that was a good situation, but of course also a little bit hard to control.
01:04 So a little bit stressful, but then when we entered the final kilometer,
01:08 yeah, we just tried to stay in the best possible position and go for it.
01:13 Now Marianne Vos goes. This is it. The green jersey wearer, Marianne Vos, looks over to her left.
01:19 There is no response from behind. Marianne Vos powering away to the finish.
01:23 Last few meters to go and she has plenty of time to celebrate.
01:27 [Music]
01:32 Marianne Vos all smiles at the start this morning after taking her second stage win yesterday.
01:37 But this eighth and final stage of La Vuelta a Femenina is all about the red jersey.
01:42 Jamie Follering heading into a big day of climbing with a lead of 52 seconds on Elisa Longo Borghini.
01:49 [Music]
01:53 There are two big climbs today. The Puerta de la Morquera, 9.1 kilometers at 6.8 percent,
01:59 and Val di Schi, 12.8 kilometers at 4.8 percent.
02:03 They should provide a fitting finale to what has been a spectacular race.
02:08 [Music]
02:11 With a progressive start, a strong group of 13 riders got up the road,
02:15 including Marianne Vos in the green jersey and our Queen of the Mountains, Caroline Schwinkels.
02:20 But they only led the peloton by around a minute as they approached the first climb and the road began to rise.
02:26 Some riders starting to struggle and the breakaway was whittled down to nine by the time they hit the Puerta de la Morquera.
02:33 Vos, Schwinkels, Brodie Chapman, Alessia Vergilia, Silke Smulders, Sarah Giganti, Maria Benito,
02:40 Lily Williams and Magdalene Valliere.
02:43 DSM Fermanich taking things up at the front of the peloton on behalf of their leader, Juliette Labusse,
02:48 as the gap came down to around 30 seconds.
02:51 This is Dani Stam, director of Team SD Works Pro Time, just coming alongside Alena Cicchini there, handing out a bottle.
02:58 Soon there were only three women left at the front, the Australians Chapman and Giganti,
03:03 and the Dutchwoman Schwinkels, who was determined to pick up another 12 points at the summit.
03:08 But the peloton were closing fast, the pace proving too much for the Spanish champion Mavi Garcia.
03:15 And the three leaders were starting to fade when Paulina Royacas attacked from the bunch.
03:21 The Fenix de Koenig climber quickly surging past Brodie Chapman and into the lead.
03:26 Royacas' stint at the front was short-lived though.
03:31 She was soon caught as well, with the familiar figure of Grace Brown hitting the front of the red jersey group for FDJ Suez.
03:38 The winner of Liège, Bastogne Liège, looking to set up her team-mate Evita Muzik for a maximum haul at the top of the climb.
03:45 And now we have a move by Evita Muzik of the FDJ Suez team, our winner and Lat Laguna Negra.
03:51 She has had her team-mate Grace Brown pace so hard on the front,
03:54 and now she is making her move over the top of this first category climb.
03:58 She will take maximum points there.
04:01 Muzik becoming the virtual queen of the mountains as they swept into the descent.
04:05 There was a brief scare for Niamh Fisher-Black as she misjudged this corner.
04:10 Oh, problem here for Niamh Fisher-Black. Almost crashing on that tight bend there, just hitting the barriers.
04:16 The former champion of New Zealand losing contact with the front group, but getting plenty of encouragement from the team car.
04:23 Come on Evita, go to that group, come on, fight yourself to death, fight yourself to that wheel.
04:28 Fisher-Black catching up again before Swinkels went back on the attack.
04:32 She ended up leading them through the intermediate sprint,
04:35 with Rihanna Marcus and Longa Borghini then picking up potentially vital bonus seconds in second and third.
04:41 The gap going out to over a minute as they approached Val di Schi.
04:45 Swinkels leading the way onto the only haul category climb of this race.
04:50 The stage winner would take not only 20 Queen of the Mountains points,
04:54 but also the Estela Dominguez prize, named for the young Spanish rider who was tragically killed last year.
05:00 After a brave effort, Swinkels was finally caught with around 9k to go.
05:05 Brown continuing to do a fantastic job for Muzik, with her high tempo thinning out this lead group,
05:11 and Longa Borghini was looking a little uncomfortable at the back.
05:16 There were still around a dozen riders at the front until the red jersey made her move.
05:21 But now it is a move from Demi Vollering in the red jersey.
05:25 The overall race leader makes her move.
05:27 She has no teammates left in this group, but now she has made an attack.
05:31 She follows immediately. Everybody's very, very wise to this move.
05:34 Demi Vollering on the front now.
05:36 Vollering flying off into the distance with nobody able to match her.
05:40 The battle for second place was on though between Rihanna Marcus and Longa Borghini.
05:45 The Italian began the day 22 seconds ahead, but she was on the back foot here.
05:50 Marcus really driving on in the first chase group.
05:53 Only Muzik was able to stay with her in the end.
05:56 Longa Borghini about 25 seconds further back and fighting for all she was worth.
06:01 But either way, nobody was going to stop Demi Vollering claiming her second Grand Tour victory.
06:06 Another uphill demonstration from the Dutch champion.
06:10 Demi Vollering powers away to the finish.
06:12 The finish road ramping up here for the final few hundred meters.
06:16 And still as she goes zigzagging over the road, acknowledging the fans there.
06:20 And she is delighted. She has done it. Making amends for last year.
06:25 Demi Vollering acknowledging the crowd. Big celebration there.
06:29 Demi Vollering has taken La Fulvierta Femenina 2024.
06:33 Second at this race in 2023 and with a score to settle,
06:40 Vollering came to Spain as the overwhelming favourite.
06:43 And despite all the pressure and expectation, the 27-year-old has definitely delivered.
06:48 She hadn't taken a win this season before La Fulvierta Femenina,
06:51 but goes home with two stage victories and two distinctive jerseys.
06:55 She is our Queen of the Mountains and a fully deserved race winner.
06:59 I'm really happy to win this stage because it's really nice to finish it off like this.
07:04 I mean, we did a really good tour here. Some podiums and two stage wins.
07:11 So I think we can be very proud on our shelves.
07:15 Vollering winning the stage by 29 seconds from Muzyk
07:18 would have been right up there if she hadn't lost time in the crosswinds on stage four.
07:22 Marcus was third and she had just enough of a gap to snatch second place overall from Longo Borghini.
07:31 Vollering's margin of victory was therefore a minute and 49 seconds over Marcus,
07:36 with Longo Borghini slipping to third.
07:38 The French duo of Labus and Muzyk round out the top five.
07:42 Vos reigned supreme in the points classification,
07:47 taking two stage wins to finish with a commanding total of 190.
07:51 Vollering's second win today pushed her up to second place.
07:55 And the race winner was also the Queen of the Mountains,
07:57 thanks to her performance today on Val d'Escayes.
08:00 She beat Muzyk by just three points.
08:03 It wasn't perhaps the race that Mavi Garcia was hoping for,
08:08 but she still finished as the leading Spanish rider in 20th place overall.
08:13 And SD Works Pro Time finished up as the best team, having helped Vollering to conquer Spain.
08:20 Thanks very much for joining us for La Vuelta a Femenina 2024
08:25 and we hope to see you again in 2025.
08:28 [Spanish]
08:35 [Music]
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