The final stage of the 2025 Ronde van Catalonië saw FDJ-Suez complete a clean sweep of victories, with Loes Adegeest sprinting to the win in Barcelona thanks to a perfectly delivered lead-out from overall winner Demi Vollering. It was the team’s third stage win in as many days, after earlier successes for Elise Chabbey and Vollering herself.
How the stage unfolded
The concluding 114-kilometre stage from Castelldefels to the Catalan capital offered little in the way of terrain to split the peloton. With only two categorised climbs – the short Alt de Lavit and gentle Alt de Begues – the final 25km were largely flat or descending, with just a slightly uphill finish into central Barcelona.
Early attacks came to nothing, despite determined efforts from Anneke Dijkstra and a late move by Quinty Schoens. The Dutch rider, along with Paraguay’s Agua Marina Espínola, formed the longest-lasting break of the day, but their time out front ended with only a few kilometres remaining.
On the run-in to the finish, FDJ-Suez took complete control. Vollering, already assured of the overall win, chose to work for her teammates in the finale. She piloted Adegeest into prime position through the final bend, and the former Zwift Academy winner delivered on that trust. Eva van Agt challenged strongly in the final metres but could not come past, settling for second, with Eline Jansen rounding out an all-Dutch podium.
Van Agt later revealed that the team’s goal had initially been to secure Marion Bunel’s podium position in the GC before going all-in for the sprint. “The priority today was to secure Marion’s third place in the GC. After that, we wanted to go for the stage win, ideally from a breakaway,” she said. “Mijntje Geurts and Rosita Reijnhout were really alert and worked hard to cover moves… As expected, it all came down to a bunch sprint.”
Her final words were filled with both satisfaction and frustration. “Femke [de Vries] delivered a fantastic lead-out—late, but the timing turned out to be spot on. Unfortunately, I just came up short in the final metres to pass Loes. I’m really grateful to the team for this opportunity and look back on the past three days with a great feeling.”
Vollering’s dominant week and post-race penalty
For Demi Vollering, the final day capped a dominant week in Spain, taking her tally to four stage race GC victories this season after earlier triumphs at Setmana Valenciana, the Vuelta and Itzulia. She had already locked up the race on the climb to Coll de Pal the previous day, but turned domestique in the finale to reward her teammates’ efforts.
However, Vollering didn’t cross the line unnoticed. After delivering the lead-out, she raised her arm in celebration just behind Adegeest in the finishing straight, which led to a fine and a relegation by the UCI for breaching rule 5.2, which bans celebratory gestures that could endanger others in the peloton. She was fined 100 Swiss francs, docked three points in the points classification and relegated to 58th on the stage.
On social media, she reacted with humour and reflection. “Oops, this finish photo costs me 100 Swiss francs, UCI points and my sixth place,” she posted, alongside the offending image. “No, seriously, I won’t do it again – or at least I’ll try. It’s a hard rule to get used to, but I promise. I understand the importance of these rules around safety.”
Despite the penalty, her lead in the GC was unaffected, with Elise Chabbey finishing second overall at 2:08 and Marion Bunel third. Chabbey had opened the week with a stage win, followed by Vollering’s solo triumph on stage 2, and Adegeest’s final flourish on day 3 made it three from three for FDJ-Suez.
There were also encouraging signs from the likes of Neve Bradbury, who held on to seventh overall, and Generation rider Nastya Kolesava, who came close to a podium finish in Barcelona. “I am not really experienced with sprints, so it really was a bit stressful for me,” she said. “I’m happy but also a bit disappointed because it wasn’t a podium.” Her teammate Bradbury helped guide her through the finale, and both riders will take confidence from their performances heading into the Pyrenean races next week.
2025 Volta a Catalunya Femenina Stage 3 result
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2025 Volta a Catalunya Femenina GC result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
