Everything seemed to indicate that this Saturday the stage would be transitional. That Vollering, the leader, the winner in the first climb finish, the dominator of the spring, and Van Vleuten, second and voracious, were going to sign a temporary truce. That the two Dutch women, separated by 5 seconds, would wait for the Lakes of Covadonga to settle the great battle, to risk the victory, to solve the pending issues between them. But that's not meeting the world champion. When you have the Movistar cyclist as a rival, you cannot be calm, you must sleep with one eye open, just in case. Van Vleuten demonstrated it again by turning the Vuelta upside down on the way to Laredo.
With her there can be no rest. Against Van Vleuten you cannot be neglected for a moment. Any error, any mistake, makes them pay dearly. She does not forgive, she does not give respite. This is what happened to Demi Vollering. At 1:26 p.m., the Vuelta announced a lot of wind on the Cantabrian roads. Said and done, the platoon broke into pieces. And the leader was cut off.
Annemiek van Vleuten saw the crack and did not stop. She put her team to work, found complicity, and the advantage only grew and increased to Vollering's disgust and incomprehension. There were even voices, such as that of the director of Farto, a Galician team that participates in the Vuelta, who made it ugly that the fan occurred when the leader had stopped to relieve herself.
They are unwritten rules in modern cycling, not in the old one: do not attack at the refreshment station and the leader is respected if he gets off the bike. But the Movistar plan was already launched, they say. "The director has told us on the radio: 'Ladies, are you ready for a little action because I think it is a good time?' And we told him: 'Yes, let's go for it'”, explained Van Vleuten at the finish line.
At that moment, a chase began almost like a time trial. Ahead, Van Vleuten, who last year won the three majors, did not let anyone give him a relief in the two mountain passes. Only the Italian Realini (Trek) could hold her, who later beat her in the sprint for partial victory after the great effort of the Dutch. Behind her, Vollering was ahead of groups, she was eating cyclists without anyone collaborating with her.
Only at the end did her partner Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) and the Canyon de Niewiadoma help her out. The advantage came to exceed two minutes but at the finish line she was reduced to 1m04s. Vollering lost the lead the least expected day. Van Vleuten seized red in a day of fury, waiting for no one or anything, not even Los Lagos.
