‘I have hardly done such efforts until now’ - Anna van der Breggen third on return to Grand Tour racing at La Vuelta Femenina

After four years away from the professional peloton, Anna van der Breggen reaffirmed her status as a Grand Tour contender after finishing on the podium of La Vuelta Femenina.

The SD Worx-ProTime rider landed third at the mountainous week-long race behind a dominant Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) and runner-up Marlen Reusser (Movistar).

Van der Breggen came out of retirement this season after three years working as a Director Sportif for SD Worx-ProTime, during which time she also coached Vollering. She impressed early on in 2025 with podiums at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and Strade Bianche and took her first win of the season this week by escaping in the final moments of stage four.

The General Classification podium placing, and more importantly perhaps her performance in the two mountain stages at La Vuelta, signified that Van der Breggen will pose a threat to Vollering and Tour de France Femmes reigning champion Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM-zondacrypto) at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and Giro d’Italia Women later this year.

The performance has buoyed the 35-year-old, who believes that she will get better the more she tests herself against the other favourites in the mountains as the season goes on.

“That makes me really satisfied to feel better uphill. After all, I have hardly done such efforts until now. And I feel I need to do this a few times to grow into it," Van der Breggen said in a team press release after the final stage.

"In the end, this was a super week for Team SD Worx-Protime. It's promising for what's to come this season. Not only my individual performance, but also that of the whole team,” she added.

The final stage was perhaps the toughest of the week, taking the riders over three tough climbs with almost 3000 metres of elevation in total. The day finished on the 10.2km ascent of the Alto de Cotobello.

Van der Breggen took up the pace-making for much of the rain-soaked final climb of the race before Vollering launched her decisive move with 900 metres to go. Van der Breggen was riding strongly, but just missed that extra few percentage points needed to match her rival on this occasion. She said that she felt stronger than on stage five, when she lost almost a minute to Vollering on the Lagunas de Neila finish.

“I am really happy with this third place,” she said. “This was a nice ride for me. It was a tricky stage with rain in the beginning and then a descent. But in terms of clothing, we were comfortable, so I wasn't cold. My teammates continuously kept us well in front. That only motivated me more. I wanted to do as well as I could on the final climb."

“I set the pace, but there wasn't really much wind on the climb, so I didn't suffer much from riding in the lead. I also felt a lot better than in stage five, only now the climb was less steep. I personally thought that was a pity as I felt good. I already felt a difference compared to Thursday.”

Van der Breggen’s next big target looks set to be the Giro d’Italia Women, a race she has won four times, before taking on Vollering and the rest at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift at the end of July. For now, she is satisfied to be back on the podium.

“We're happy with how the Vuelta went for us and I'm proud to get straight to the final podium at my first stage race at WorldTour level since my return."