La Vuelta Femenina stage 4 LIVE: An aggressive start sees four riders off the front with a growing advantage

2026-05-06T13:27:50.735Z

The gap is increasing now, Nijssen, Allione, Jaskulska and Hanson lead by 1.58.

2026-05-06T13:23:02.422Z

Of the four riders at the front, Nijssen is the best paced on the general classification, the Belgian rider starting the day only 1.58 behind the race leader, Franziska Koch (FDJ United-SUEZ).

2026-05-06T13:20:36.904Z

And breathe. Annelies Nijssen (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies), Marine Allione (Mayenne-Monbana My Pie, Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) and Marta Jaskulska (Human Powered Health) now lead by more than one minute.

2026-05-06T13:17:47.715Z

Jaskulska reaches the front, she, Nijssen, Allione and Hanson lead by 35 seconds. It’s relentless!

2026-05-06T13:14:19.868Z

Nijssen, Allione and Hanson lead Jaskulska by 25 seconds with the peloton 35 seconds behind the lead.
We’re now at the top of another, unclassfied climb.

2026-05-06T13:11:11.490Z

This counter-attack may well bring a reaction from the bunch, it’s only a short stage remember, and some teams may be happier with three, rather than four riders up the road.

2026-05-06T13:09:44.297Z

The gaps are growing, but now there is another rider in the gap, Marta Jaskulska (Human Powered Health) is chasing the three leaders.
She’s 25 seconds behind with the bunch a further 10 seconds down.

2026-05-06T13:06:53.381Z

We’ve done 30km and the breakaway is still not formed conclusively, Nijssen, Allione and Hanson lead by only 15 seconds.

2026-05-06T13:01:51.629Z

The race is a state of constant flux, Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) has joined Nijssen and Allione, but they’re only just ahead of the peloton.

2026-05-06T12:59:48.762Z

There’s another little climb now before a long descent and the bunch has almost caught the breakaway. If and when another group tries to get away this will be a tough day.

2026-05-06T12:57:40.185Z

There’s a battle going on for the mountains jersey.
While Allione was first over the top, scoring 6 points, with Nijssen taking 4, Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) was third and now leads the classification after Moolman-Pasio was fourth over the Alto de Oural.

2026-05-06T12:54:35.485Z

It’s all going on now, Nijssen and Allione lead, but Van der Heijden was briefly joined by Josie Talbot (Liv-Alula-Jayco) trying to chase the leaders down.
No can do, though, they’re caught and our leading duo have 1.25.

2026-05-06T12:48:38.820Z

Fenix-Premier Tech have clearly identified today as a breakaway day. Van der Heijden is the second rider they’ve sent up the road, though she might struggle to close the gap now it’s more than a minute.

2026-05-06T12:47:10.283Z

We do have a counter-attack with Inge van der Heijden (Fenix-Premier Tech) chasing just ahead of the bunch, which is 1.30 behind the leading duo.

2026-05-06T12:45:48.351Z

On the climb now and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal) might be interested in chasing the leaders down as the South African currently leads the mountains classification.

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance – Soudal) during stage 4 of the 2026 La Vuelta Femenina wearing the polka-dot jersey. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images) (Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-06T12:40:14.168Z

Annelies Nijssen (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) and MArine Allione (Mayenne-Monbana My Pie) arę away. The pair have 48 seconds over the peloton.

2026-05-06T12:38:04.471Z

The day’s first climb comes early in the day, the Alto de Oural starting after 14.1km and covers 5..4km at an average gradient of 4.7%. We’re almost there now.

2026-05-06T12:36:39.296Z

Don’t worry, another group is now up the road.

2026-05-06T12:36:20.065Z

Four women attacked, but Maud Oudeman (Visma-Lease a Bike), Aniek van Alphen (Fenix-Premier Tech, Ana Vitoriá Magalhāes (Movistar) and Francesca Hall (Mayenne-Monbana My Pie) weren’t allowed to get too far.

2026-05-06T12:31:03.121Z

We’re now almost 10km into the race, but who doesn’t want to see the roll out?

2026-05-06T12:27:18.336Z

2026-05-06T12:17:03.026Z

There’s little change in the weather for today’s stage, the forecast says the high temperature will be around 16º, with some rain possible and light winds from the north.

2026-05-06T12:13:39.016Z

2026-05-06T11:52:16.177Z

What does pre-race favourite Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney think of the race so far?