00:01Welcome to stage six of La Vuelta Femenina.
00:04It's time to sink our teeth into the GC battle with the first summit finish to Les Praeres.
00:10After dominating the last two sprints, Team SD Works Pro Time are preparing to get behind their leader, Anna van
00:16der Brechen.
00:16She was one of the riders caught up in yesterday's late crash.
00:20We are really ready with Anna. It's in super good condition.
00:24I don't think, I'm not sure, but it doesn't look like this crash is going to affect her, I hope.
00:29Yeah, we are very ready to fight for it.
00:33Among the other top contenders today are the last two winners of the Tour de France Femme avec Zwift,
00:38Pauline Ferron-Prevo and Cassio Nuevia-Doma Fini.
00:41However, the Polish champion says an upset is also possible.
00:46Yeah, of course we have clear contenders like Anna Pauline, Blasi,
00:51but I also believe that on such a climb you can see a surprise rider that has a very great
00:55day on the bike.
00:56We don't often rate on such a steep climb, so I don't really have a big reference,
01:00but I think that it's going to be about just like doing your best suffering and pacing yourself to the
01:06best way.
01:13Today's stage is short, only 106.5km, and it's all about the final climb.
01:19Les Praires is 3.7km at a punishing average gradient of 13.4%, with maximum pinches of 27%.
01:28It's an absolute beast, and there will no doubt be significant time gaps at the finish line.
01:37The day's breakaway formed early with four riders going up the road.
01:41Gaia Mazzetti of Team Picnic Postonel, Elisa Valtellini of Vini Fantini B Pink,
01:48Stero Faflut from Lotto Antimarché Ladies, who was already in the breakaway on stage three,
01:54and Marin Allion of Mayen Monbana Maipai, the second place rider in the mountains classification,
02:00level on points with her teammate Alice Coutinho.
02:02Well, they were being chased by two more women, Anik van Alphen of Fenix Premier Tech,
02:07and another teammate of Allion's, Lea Rondel, the youngest rider in the race at just 19 years of age.
02:14Well, those two in a bit of a no-man's land between the breakaway and the peloton,
02:18two and a half minutes from the leading quartet to the chasing duo,
02:21then another two minutes back to the main bunch.
02:24The GC favourites just keeping their powder dry for now, with the average speed around 39km an hour.
02:31There was then a nasty crash for Maéva Schibon, another frontrunner in the mountains competition,
02:36and one of the stars of last year's Tour de France fame.
02:39She was sadly forced to abandon, and we wish her a speedy recovery.
02:44In the meantime, the peloton had cut the gap to the four escapees to about three and a half minutes,
02:49and they were gradually closing on the two chasers,
02:51and Alphen and Rondel caught with 35km to go.
02:57The race leader Lotta Capecchi was then distanced from the main bunch,
03:00although it wasn't entirely clear why, perhaps a mechanical issue or perhaps she was struggling.
03:05Either way, the Belgian working her way back through the cars,
03:08and so too was Paola Blasi, the GC leader of UAE Team ADQ.
03:13A big day this for the winner of the Amstel Gold Race,
03:16who'd be getting support from the Spanish veteran Mavi Garcia.
03:18They all caught up again, with 32km remaining.
03:24The next key point was the intermediate sprints,
03:27and with four women at the front, there would be ten points available for the peloton.
03:32Franzi Koch trailed Capecchi by nine points in the green jersey standings this morning,
03:36so she tried to anticipate with her teammate Eva van Acht.
03:39But they had a passenger in yesterday's stage winner Misha Bredewald,
03:43who would be sprinting against the German champion to defend her teammate's jersey.
03:48Smart move here by SD Works Pro Time, sending Misha Bredewald up here to try and take the points off
03:52Franzi Koch,
03:53but Franzi Koch needs to win this to get the ten points.
03:56It's ten points or nothing for the first two over the line here.
03:59Can Franzi Koch find a way past Misha Bredewald? No, she can't.
04:04Bredewald repaying the favour from yesterday and ensuring Capecchi would keep green.
04:10Mazzetti and Faflut proved to be the strongest riders at the front,
04:13but they were caught with 11.5km to go, so breakaway over.
04:19And Capecchi apparently still had something left in the tank,
04:22because she was straight on the front for SD Works.
04:25The rain began to fall heavily as they approached the fearsome final climb,
04:29and the front group had been thinned out significantly by the time they hit the base of Les Praires in
04:34an absolute downpour.
04:37Lotta Capecchi saying goodbye in the red jersey, as Cedrine Kerbail attacked at the start of the climb.
04:45But it wasn't long until van der Brechen took over at the front,
04:48the 36-year-old tapping out a tempo that most of her rivals couldn't match.
04:53Pauline Ferron Prevo was one of the first to drop,
04:55although her team-mate Marion Bunel was still up there.
04:59Cassia Nuevia Doma Fini and Paolo Blasi also on the wheel of the two-time world champion.
05:04But they don't call them rampas inhumanas, inhumane ramps for nothing,
05:09everybody clearly in a world of pain as they crawled their way up towards the finish.
05:14Nuevia Doma Fini dropped next, leaving van der Brechen, Blasi and Bunel,
05:18and slowly but surely the Dutch woman began to pull away metre by metre.
05:22Van der Brechen showing all of her experience,
05:25but Blasi, 13 years her junior, wasn't giving up.
05:28The two women hauling themselves up Les Praires,
05:31followed by Bunel and then Juliette Berte and Monica Trinker-Colonel.
05:36Into the final kilometre with Blasi keeping the pressure on van der Brechen all the way,
05:40but she wasn't able to deny the Dutch woman her first victory of 2026.
05:48Approaching 100 metres to go here for Anna van der Brechen.
05:51Paolo Blasi is now just rounding that tight bend as well.
05:54So we're still getting these overhead shots here of Anna van der Brechen.
05:58She is about to take a stage victory here at Love of World of Feminine.
06:01She looks over her shoulder once again.
06:03She knows she has measured this effort to absolute perfection.
06:07She led from the front, she has ridden at her own pace,
06:10and now she has time to just about celebrate on the line.
06:13It's a win for Anna van der Brechen on stage six.
06:18Anna van der Brechen proving that form is temporary, but class is permanent.
06:22Securing a sensational victory on the hellish slopes of Les Praires.
06:26Her last win came one year and one day ago on stage four of La Vuelta Femenina,
06:31but in very different circumstances.
06:34AVDB conquering the climb and proving that she still has what it takes
06:38to challenge for the biggest prizes in women's cycling.
06:42It was a really hard day. The whole day was fighting, and a climb like this I think I never
06:49saw before.
06:50So it was a hard climb, but also nice. I mean, the girls take care of me all day.
06:58Finishing like this, yeah, I'm incredibly happy.
07:02Van der Brechen making it three in a row for SD works, beating Blasi by just eight seconds.
07:08Bunel, Berte and Trinke-Colonel completed the top five, with Nuevia Dome of Fini in tenth.
07:14Van der Brechen takes the red jersey from her teammate Capecchi then, with Blasi at 18 seconds.
07:19Bunel, Trinke-Colonel and Musique are all within one minute of the lead.
07:25Capecchi kept hold of the green jersey thanks to Bredervolt,
07:28who prevented Koch from picking up any points at the intermediate sprint.
07:31And a 12-point hold on the final climb was enough to make Van der Brechen the queen of the
07:36mountains.
07:37Bunel is now the best young rider, the 21-year-old Frenchwoman with a 51-second lead.
07:43Six down, one to go.
07:45La Vuelta Femenina concludes on Saturday with a hike up the iconic Anglia Rue, fireworks guaranteed.
07:51Join us for that tomorrow and thanks for watching.
