Team SD Worx started to take the lead early on. The team sent Lotte Kopecky and Anna Shackley in an early breakaway with Lucinda Brand, Elise Chabbey and Marie Le Net. The breakaway was caught with about 20 kilometres to go, after which Team SD Worx put itself in front of the peloton.
With less than five kilometres to go, three riders separated: Andrea Patiño, Juliette Labous and Demi Vollering. The last two would fight it out for the stage win and the overall victory. After yet another acceleration of Vollering Labous cracked, but she didn’t fold completely.
Vollering: “My teammates had done the perfect preparatory work. So it was my turn. Because I lost a lot of time yesterday, I knew I had to create a big gap if I still wanted to take the overall win. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to take more than 34 seconds. This was one of the most difficult battles of my career. After all, I didn’t feel top after my crash in Durango-Durango.”
Vollering stressed that the final climb is very tricky. “It was important to find the right pace that I could maintain until the end,” said the Dutchman. “Certain parts are very steep and there was head wind. So I’m happy I was able to take the stage win. Unfortunately, the general classification was not possible anymore. I will definitely come back with the goal to win the Vuelta a Burgos.”
Demi Vollering finished third in the final classification. She took the red mountain jersey and the prize for fighting spirit. She also took over the leader’s jersey from Lotte Kopecky as number one in the WorldTour ranking. The Belgian champion won the points classification in Burgos. Team SD Worx also won the team classification in the Spanish round and thus ends the Spanish period with six victories.