Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) continues as leader of the 2026 Vuelta Femenina after easing up in the sprint on stage 5 to allow teammate Mischa Bredewold to take the win. However, her days in the red jersey might be coming to an end as La Vuelta heads to its first summit finish on stage 6 to Les Praeres via Nava on Friday.
Kopecky finished second on Thursday's stage to earn a six-second time bonus to extend her lead in the general classification to 12 seconds over Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez).
Stage 3 winner Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) continues in third place at 18 seconds.
Thanks to her time bonus for the stage win, Bredewold moved up into fourth place at 22 seconds ahead of teammate Anna van der Breggen, who crashed in the final three kilometres but was awarded the same time as the leading bunch. She is in fifth place overall at 26 seconds - the leading pre-race GC contender.
Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike) lies in sixth just ahead of Evita Muzic (FDJ United-Suez), both at 28 seconds. Further down are Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) at 30 seconds in eighth, two seconds ahead of a bunch of riders: Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) in ninth with Liane Lippert (Movistar) rounding out the top 10.
Where are the pre-race favourites ahead of the mountains?
The GC standings of La Vuelta Femenina are due for a massive change as the race, following five sprinty and punchy stages, shifts its tone and heads for the mountains. The Praeres Via Nava summit finish on Friday will be followed by the Queen stage to the top of the famous Angliru on Saturday.
But there have already been some developments on GC, and some staggering of the field, with some pre-race contenders are already on the back foot before the mountains even begin.
Anna van der Breggen is the best-placed of the pre-race red jersey candidates in fifth overall. She's two seconds ahead of Sarah Van Dam and Evita Muzic (FDJ United-Suez).
Behind, there is a cluster of GC riders in the 17-strong group that sits six seconds behind Van der Breggen. Van Dam has teammates there in the form of the Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and the 21-year-old climbing talent Marion Bunel.
Former Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) is in there, as are Ricarda Bauernfeind (Lidl-Trek), Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), and the UAE Team ADQ duo of Mavi Garcia and Paula Blasi.
A few important names, however, will be playing catch-up, chief among them Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-SUEZ). The Frenchwoman, a perennial Grand Tour top 10 finisher, has been up towards the front for the most part but was caught out as the peloton split over the final kicker ahead of the stage 3 run-in to A Coruña. She lost nearly two minutes to the front of the race that day and now trails the Van der Breggen benchmark by 1:46.
Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) finished in the same group, as did Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech), two GC outsiders who join Berthet on the same deficit.
Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) is even further back, nearly 10 minutes down on Van der Breggen. The Italian climber has seen her GC ambitions fade in the past couple of years but she has been on the podium of the Vuelta and Giro in the past. Realini continues to be dogged by positioning problems in the peloton and lost two minutes alone as the peloton split on wet descents on the opening day. Stage 5 was the first time she finished in the main peloton.
La Vuelta Femenina 2026 GC standings
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La Vuelta Femenina 2026 classifications and jerseys
There are four main classifications with distinct jerseys at La Vuelta Femenina.
Red leader's jersey – worn by the rider leading the overall GC standings
Green points jersey – worn by the rider who has won the most points, which are available in intermediate sprints and at the finish line
Polka dot climber's jersey – worn by the rider who has won the most points available at the top of every classified climb
White combative jersey – Worn daily by the rider deemed to have been the most combative on the previous day
Note, there is no young rider's classification at the Vuelta, like there is in other Grand Tours. There is a best team classification, which is denoted by red bib numbers.
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