Dominika Wlodarczyk won stage 3 of Itzulia Women 2026, taking her second straight victory after another sharp and intelligent ride on the final day into San Sebastián. The UAE Team ADQ rider proved fastest from a reduced front group, beating Évita Muzic and Lauren Dickson at the end of 113.1km of tense racing, while Mischa Bredewold did enough behind to secure the overall title.
The final day had been expected to decide the general classification, and it did, but not through one simple summit finish. Instead, the race opened up in layers. The route from San Sebastián back to San Sebastián featured around 1,800 metres of climbing, a constant up-and-down rhythm and the key ascent of Mendizorrotz late in the stage. That climb split the contenders, put Bredewold under real pressure and forced the yellow jersey into a defensive ride to protect the race lead.
Wlodarczyk, by contrast, turned the chaos to her advantage. After winning stage 2 in Amorebieta-Etxano, she arrived at the final day with confidence and raced like it.
A nervous final day from the start
Bredewold began the stage in yellow after her stage 1 win and a strong defence on stage 2, but there was little margin for error. Yara Kastelijn, Lauren Dickson, Riejanne Markus and Antonia Niedermaier were all still close enough on GC to think about overturning the race if the final stage became hard enough.
That possibility shaped the race from early on. The opening part of the stage was not all-out from kilometre zero, but the bunch never looked comfortable. The terrain made that almost impossible. San Sebastián and the surrounding roads are rarely flat for long, and the repeated climbs made it difficult for any team to truly control things.
There were still riders interested in forcing the stage rather than simply waiting for Mendizorrotz, and that kept the tempo awkward. Some early aggression was absorbed, some moves were allowed a little space, but the feeling throughout was that nobody wanted to commit too much too soon. The real decision was always likely to come later.
The race tightens before Mendizorrotz
As the stage moved into its second half, the bunch became more stretched and more selective. Teams began to move up more decisively, the GC riders were kept closer to the front, and the roads themselves started to do some of the work.
That mattered because this was not a finish where a team could simply organise one final lead-out onto a single climb and know exactly what would happen. The roads before Mendizorrotz were technical enough, and the pressure high enough, that positioning had to be earned long before the actual selection began.
By the time the race reached the decisive climb, the field had already thinned and the mood had clearly changed. Riders were no longer racing to save energy. They were racing to survive the key moment in the right place.
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Photo Credit: RCS
Bredewold is dropped as the race breaks apart
Mendizorrotz was the point where the GC battle finally came alive. The climb was not just hard enough to create gaps, it came late enough in the stage for those gaps to matter immediately.
Bredewold was dropped there, and for a moment the whole race tilted. The yellow jersey had been strong and composed through the first two stages, but this was the first time she looked genuinely vulnerable. Up front, the stronger climbers sensed the opportunity. Riders such as Évita Muzic, Lauren Dickson and Yara Kastelijn were now racing not just for the stage but for every second available against the overall leader.
That was the critical moment of the race. If Bredewold had cracked fully on Mendizorrotz, the overall title could easily have gone elsewhere. Instead, she limited the damage, stayed calm and began the descent with one clear objective: lose as little as possible and keep the race lead alive.
Wlodarczyk is there again when it matters
While Bredewold was defending, Wlodarczyk was again right where the stage was being decided. That was the clearest thread across the whole race. She had already shown on stage 2 that she could read a finale better than most, and stage 3 confirmed it was no one-off.
As the front group formed after the climb, Wlodarczyk stayed calm in a race situation that was changing quickly. Some riders still wanted to push on for time, others were more concerned about the stage, and that often creates hesitation. Wlodarczyk handled it cleanly. She stayed in the right group, followed the right wheels and kept enough left for the finish.
Muzic and Dickson were both strong in the finale as well, continuing a very good Itzulia Women for FDJ United-SUEZ, but neither could match Wlodarczyk once the sprint opened. After such a selective day, she still had the sharpest finish.
Bredewold fights back on the descent
The most important ride of the day may still have been Bredewold’s, even without the stage win. Once dropped on Mendizorrotz, she had to turn the final descent and run-in into a damage-limitation exercise.
That is not always easy to do in a short stage race. Once the yellow jersey is isolated and losing ground, the instinct can be to panic, over-chase and lose even more. Bredewold did the opposite. She rode the descent aggressively, trusted her handling and managed the gap well enough to stop the stage from becoming a GC collapse.
By the finish, she had lost time, but not enough. That was the difference between merely surviving the final day and actually winning the race. Her stage 1 victory had given her the cushion, and her stage 3 recovery ride made sure she could still use it.
Photo Credit: GettyWlodarczyk doubles up, Bredewold takes the race
At the line in San Sebastián, Wlodarczyk completed the job with another stage victory, beating Muzic and Dickson in the reduced finish. It was her second straight win and, after stage 2, a second reminder that she is becoming increasingly dangerous in this kind of race, one that rewards sharp decision-making as much as raw climbing strength.
Behind, Bredewold came through with enough control to secure the overall title. Kastelijn moved up to second overall at 21 seconds, with Dickson also ending the race at 21 seconds to take third on the final podium. Riejanne Markus finished fourth overall at 22 seconds, with Antonia Niedermaier fifth at 29 seconds.
Those margins tell their own story. Itzulia Women 2026 was never blown apart by one huge mountain raid, but every second mattered across the three days. Bredewold won because she was the most consistent rider in the race, strongest on the opening stage, calm under pressure on stage 2 and resilient enough to hold on when the final day finally exposed her.
Wlodarczyk, meanwhile, leaves the Basque Country with two stage wins and the sense that this was a genuine breakthrough week.
Itzulia Women 2026 stage 3 result
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Itzulia Women 2026 GC result
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Main photo credit: Getty
