Stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina delivered a shift in the general classification as Femke Gerritse sprinted to her first WorldTour victory in Huesca, overtaking Marianne Vos and Letizia Paternoster to move into the red jersey. The Dutch rider from SD Worx-Protime capitalised on bonus seconds and a perfect lead-out to secure the stage win after a fast, tense 132.4km race from Barbastro.
The day began with a rolling start out of Barbastro, and despite wet roads and narrow early climbs, the expected early break did go clear after just 3km. Five riders made the move: Marina Garau of BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni, Ariana Gilabert of Eneicat-CM Team, Maaike Coljé of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Magdalene Lind of Coop-Repsol, and Marion Borras of Cofidis. A sixth rider, Lea Lin Teutenberg of Lotto Ladies, tried to bridge, but after a long solo effort was reeled back in by the peloton.
The break was given a gap of just over three minutes, but the peloton, driven at times by SD Worx-Protime and Visma-Lease a Bike, kept the situation controlled. As the route moved out of the foothills of the Sierra de Guara and onto more exposed roads of the Huesca plain, the time gap dropped steadily.
By the halfway point, Gilabert and Borras began to fade from the front group, leaving Coljé, Lind, and Garau to continue on. However, with crosswinds looming and positioning ramping up in the bunch, the break was caught with 33km to go.
Photo Credit: Unipublic/Naike EreñozagaBonus seconds and battle for red
The intermediate sprint in Tramaced at 30.8km to go proved decisive. Gerritse launched early and beat Vos and Paternoster to the line, claiming maximum bonus seconds that put her into the virtual race lead. The sprint triggered a ramp-up in pace, with several teams trying to force echelons in the sidewinds.
While the wind direction wasn’t consistent enough for lasting damage, the accelerations did cause splits. Riders like Pauliena Rooijakkers, Olivia Baril, Marion Bunel and Clara Koppenburg were among those dropped and eventually lost minutes. Ane Santesteban, who had crashed with 50km to go, was involved in a second incident with just over 20km left. Also caught in that crash were Mona Mitterwallner, Elisa Valtulini and Alena Ivanchenko. Mitterwallner finished over four minutes down with injuries to her shoulder and face.
At the same time, riders including Riejanne Markus, Ellen van Dijk, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Neve Bradbury were briefly distanced in the crosswinds, but managed to regain contact with the front group before the 15km mark.
Final chaos in Huesca
As the bunch entered Huesca, a major crash occurred just after the 2km to go mark, taking down a significant number of riders. Juliette Labous of FDJ-Suez was among the worst affected, suffering a wound above her eye that required stitches. Teammate Évita Muzic and others, including Niamh Fisher-Black, Marlen Reusser and Erica Magnaldi were also delayed. All were credited with bunch time under the 3km rule.
Up ahead, SD Worx-Protime executed their plan to perfection. Anna van der Breggen and Mischa Bredewold led the final 2km, delivering Gerritse to the front with clean timing. Vos launched from behind, but couldn’t get past. Linda Zanetti finished third, with Cat Ferguson again performing strongly to take ninth place for Movistar.
Photo Credit: Unipublic/Antonio Baixauli/Cxcling Creative AgencyPost-stage Reactions
Speaking post-stage, Femke Gerritse was still processing the scale of her win and her new status as race leader.
“This is really crazy. I didn’t expect this at all,” she said. “I took the bonus sprint and then just tried to stay calm in the chaos. I felt someone coming in the sprint, but I held on. I had the perfect lead-out from Anna and Mischa. They just kept going, so I could focus and not panic.”
Reflecting on the day’s racing, Gerritse described a stage that was anything but straightforward despite the flat profile. “The first part of the stage was very twisty and undulating, and then there was wind but not from the right direction to split things. Still, it was a really chaotic day.”
Marianne Vos, who settled for second and now sits 12 seconds behind Gerritse on GC, acknowledged she had been beaten by the better rider on the day.
“Of course you always want more, but Femke was the fastest today,” she said. “We were ready for another hectic finish. There was occasional crosswind, and we did try to create something after the sprint, but the wind just wasn’t strong enough. Positioning was key all day.”
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto’s Kasia Niewiadoma, who finished eighth, revealed her role had been to lead out teammate Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka, but the final didn’t go to plan.
“It was super hectic – just a constant washing machine effect,” said Niewiadoma. “Everyone was on edge waiting for the wind to do more damage. I tried to lead out Agnieszka, but we got separated in the final corner. Still, we’re pleased with how we rode.”
Photo Credit: Unipublic/Rafa Gómez/Sprint Cycling Agency2025 La Vuelta Femenina Stage 3 result
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Main photo credit: Unipublic/Rafa Gómez/Sprint Cycling Agency
