Mie Bjørndal Ottestad sprinted to her second stage win of the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, beating Ellen van Dijk and Imogen Wolff in Valdefuentes. Despite missing out on victory, van Dijk retained the yellow jersey heading into the final day.
The 113.5 km stage from Quintana de la Serena to Valdefuentes was shaped by a fast start and aggressive riding from the WorldTour teams. A tailwind prevented any breakaways in the opening half of the stage, keeping the peloton intact. As the race entered more exposed terrain, the pace lifted in the crosswinds, reducing the bunch even before the final climb began.
The decisive Alto del Robledo (5.4 km at 5%) came with 16 km to go. UAE set a high tempo, with Greta Marturano’s team particularly active in an attempt to put van Dijk under pressure. The peloton thinned out considerably, but the race leader remained firmly in control. Around 15-20 riders crested the climb in the front group, including Ottestad, Wolff, and Aalerud.
After the descent, Katrine Aalerud attacked with 9 km to go, forcing Lidl-Trek into a hard chase. With the Norwegian sitting high on GC, van Dijk and Emma Norsgaard worked to bring her back, neutralising the move with just 3 km remaining. From there, the reduced bunch prepared for a sprint into Valdefuentes.
Van Dijk launched her sprint early, but Ottestad surged past in the closing metres to claim the win. Wolff rounded out the podium in third, continuing an impressive showing in her debut pro season.
Heading into the final day, van Dijk holds a slender six-second advantage over Ottestad, with Marturano in third at 25 seconds. Ottestad’s win and intermediate sprint efforts have brought her closer to yellow, but van Dijk’s consistency keeps her in control. Viktoria Chladonova leads the youth classification, while Maeva Squiban continues to top both the mountain and intermediate sprint rankings.
Stage 4 shortened: Climbs removed from final day
Originally planned as a 110 km mountain stage, the final day from Malpartida de Plasencia to Hervás has been shortened to 69 km due to severe weather forecasts. The climbs of El Torno and Honduras have been scrapped, significantly altering the nature of the stage.
With the expected time gaps on the climbs now unlikely, the battle for overall victory will hinge on intermediate sprint bonuses and the final push into Hervás. Van Dijk remains in pole position, but Ottestad and Marturano will be looking for any opportunity to snatch the yellow jersey.
2025 Vuelta Extremadura Stage 3 result
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Main photo credit: Vuelta Extremadura
