Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) secured her first victory of the 2025 season with an impressive finish in stage two of La Vuelta Femenina.
The 37-year-old Dutch cyclist showed her capabilities and skills by positioning herself perfectly going into the final corner with 150 metres remaining. She then launched her sprint at just the right moment, going beyond strong challenges from Letizia Paternoster (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) to claim the victory.
The athlete has proven that she was a veteran in the sport, with speed and tactical sharpness to compete with the best in the peloton.
With the triumph, Vos expressed, “It feels really good, especially when the whole team puts all the effort in, not only in this race but all the season already… I’m very happy I could finish it off.”
Highlights of the race
The 99km stage from Molins de Rei to Sant Boi de Llobregat passed through the hills west of Barcelona. Early on in the race, Ane Santesteban attacked on a long climb, earning mountain points. Elena Cecchini broke away and held a lead for a while.
Rain made the roads slippery, causing crashes for riders like Anastasiya Kolesava and Vittoria Guazzini. Their fall allowed a small group to break away for a time, but they were soon caught. Later on in the intermediate sprint, Marianne Vos won and took six bonus seconds, while Femke Gerritse gained enough points to briefly take the virtual race lead.
Crashes from racers continued due to the wet roads, with Neve Bradbury losing over two minutes after going down near a roundabout. Her teammate Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney tried to attack later but was also caught.
In the final stretch, after safely passing ten roundabouts, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Imogen Wolff helped Vos into a good position. Vos sprinted clear to win the stage, while a crash behind her slowed other riders. Letizia Paternoster finished second and took the overall race lead with her time bonus.
Vos admitted, “It was Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Imogen Wolff still with me, and it was amazing just to follow their wheels and to be able to get to the last corner in front due to their work. Yes, it was slippery, but being in the front is then the best position,” Vos described the technical finish with several roundabouts and corners.”
In a social media post, Vos shared her win with a caption, “Happy to take the win today at stage 2 of @lavueltafem, huge thanks to my @teamvisma_leaseabike_women teammates who guided and protected me throughout the day. 🙌”
Fans cheered her on, calling her “simply the best” and celebrating the win with “THE QUEEN!!!!🚀🚀🚀”.