Annemiek van Vleuten seals victory over Demi Vollering in Vuelta Femenina

The world champion Annemiek van Vleuten had to give everything to cling on to the leader’s red jersey on the final day of La Vuelta Femenina as she took victory ahead of Demi Vollering by nine seconds.

Sign up to The Recap

The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action

after newsletter promotion

Vollering, angered on Saturday when she felt that her Dutch compatriot Van Vleuten took advantage of a nature break to attack in crosswinds and snatch red away, claimed the stage win on the summit finish of Lagos de Covadonga after dropping Van Vleuten midway up the imposing final climb.

But it was not quite enough to overcome Van Vleuten’s 71sec advantage in red as the world champion fought her way to a finish line shrouded in cloud, coming home third.

The Italian rider Gaia Realini, the revelation of this race, had tried to follow Vollering to the line and although she was dropped late on, her second place on the day was enough to seal third overall.