When Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) won stage 6 of La Vuelta Femenina – also her sixth individual stage victory in the Spanish stage race during her career – the 37-year-old veteran thanked her 19-year-old British teammate Imogen Wolff for the excellent lead-out that led to her victory.
"Imogen Wolff, like in the previous sprint stages, did a really good job bringing me to a good position and going through the corner first. Then Mischa Bredewold opened her sprint, and actually, the last 150 metres we were just two abreast. It was very close," Vos said after crossing the finish line with her second win of the week in Baltanás.
Wolff is in her first Women’s WorldTour season, having joined Visma-Lease a Bike straight out of the junior ranks, even racing for the Dutch team as a stagiaire in September 2024 while still a junior.
She won her first UCI race on stage 4 of the 2.1-ranked Vuelta Extremadura in March, still aged 18, then did well in the Spring Classics, achieving top-40 placings while supporting her team’s leaders Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
This week, though, Wolff has really hit her stride as the last woman ahead of Vos in the mass sprints. Entrusting such an important role to Wolff was a real show of confidence by the team, and she delivered by setting Vos up for two stage victories and a second place.
"It was so close, but I'm so happy with this victory. The finale was incredibly tough. The team did a great job again, and Imogen's lead-out was fantastic. I'm happy that I could finish it off for the team," Vos said after stage 6.
Wolff’s confidence was also boosted by the presence of her grandparents, keen caravan holidaymakers who have been to Spain numerous times. They follow the race around in their motorhome, cheering on their granddaughter as they go.
“She is doing very well. We’re very proud of her,” Wolff’s grandfather told local media outlet Soria Noticias when interviewed about the holiday-slash-cheerleading trip.
