Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) powered to victory on a tough, uphill drag to take the win on stage four of the Vuelta Femenina.
The bonus seconds also enabled her to take the overall race from Franziska Koch (FDJ United-SUEZ), who is now the runner-up, six seconds in arrears.
The stage was held on a short, hilly day between Monforte de Lemos and Antas de Ulla, and was well suited the powerful Belgian rider.
Kopecky has already finished second on two occasions in this race – and was yellow carded and relegated on one other – but now she has the stage win and the leader's red jersey.
Her SD Worx team made it a one-two on the stage too, with Anna van der Breggen finishing right behind her.
Speaking after the stage, Kopecky said: "We had to be patient; two times second, one time not so great, so… We really believed as a team that we could win, but we had to wait for it.
"It was the easiest stage [so far]," she said. "Some longer climbs but steady, but then this final was really hard. One moment I really thought that we weren't going to catch the break. Then the pace went so high and in the final three kilometres it was attack after attack. But my team-mates were just on fire and they could respond to all of them. I just had to jump from wheel to wheel and in the end we were in the perfect position.
Of her new position as GC leader she added: "It's really nice to wear the red jersey but we're hunting for victories… we passed the intermediate sprint and I saw Franziska going for it and I thought ah, that's two seconds more [Koch was third and gained two seconds]. But I knew if I won the stage I'd win the red jersey so we focused on that."
The day – a short one at just 115.6km – followed a familiar pattern with two riders going clear early on, on the first of two climbs. Annalies Nijssen (Lotto-Intermarché) and Marine Allione (Mayenne Monbana My Pie) were joined by Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) and Marta Jaskulska (Human Powered Health) not long afterwards. The quartet drew out an advantage of three-and-a-half minutes, where it stayed for much of their tenure, only coming down as the day's second classified climb – the Alto do Hospital – approached.
The peloton kept up a persistent but steady pace and the breakaway survived over the top, eventually splintering with the survivors Hanson and Jaskulska powering on towards the finish. As Kopecky herself admitted, it looked touch and go at one stage, but the pair were finally caught with 2.5km to go. Then it was down to Kopecky and SDWorx-Protime to finally do what they came here to do.
Results
Vuelta Femenina 2026, stage 4: Monforte de Lemos > Antas de Ulla
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, 115.6km in 3:07:11
2. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
3. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco
4. Shari Bossuyt (Bel) AG Insurance-Soudal
5. Franziska Koch (Ger) FDJ United-SUEZ
6. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike
7. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
8. Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Movistar
9. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Pol) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto
10. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ, all at same time
General Classification after stage 4
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel), SD Worx-Protime, in 12:10:46
2. Franziska Koch (Ger), FDJ United-SUEZ, +6s
3. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra), EF Education-Oatly, +12s
4. Anna van der Breggen, SD Worx-Protime, +20s
5. Sarah van Dam (Can), Visma-Lease a Bike, +22s
6. Évita Muzic (Fra), FDJ United-SUEZ, at s.t.
7. Loes Adegeest (Ned), Lidl-Trek, +24s
8. Liane Lippert (Ger), Movistar, +26s
9. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike
10. Paula Blasi (Esp), UAE Team ADQ, both at s.t.
