'It was a dream to win this stage' - Paula Blasi dethrones Anna van der Breggen to win La Vuelta Femenina 2026 as Petra Stiasny conquers L'Angliru on stage 7

Swiss climber Petra Stiasny overcame the might of the Angliru and the race favourites to claim stage 7 of La Vuelta Femenina 2026 as Paula Blasi bested Anna van der Breggen to win the overall classification.

Human Powered Health's Stiasny rode a measured final climb, catching and passing UAE Team ADQ's Blasi in the final kilometre of L'Angliru's steepest slopes to take the biggest win of her career.

Blasi was second on the stage, 23 seconds behind Stiasny, with Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-SUEZ) finishing third. Van der Breggen of SD Worx-ProTime faded out of contention with 4km to go and eventually finished almost a minute down in fifth.

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It all meant that the young Spaniard took a landmark overall win with Van der Breggen second in the battle for the red jersey and Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike) in third.

Van der Breggen came into the stage with an eight second lead having won 24 hours earlier on the penultimate stage to Les Praeres, but looked bereft of energy as L'Angliru reared up beyond 20%. It was Bunel's initial acceleration that did for the former world champion, and Blasi took full advantage.

Ahead of the stage, Stiasny had described the Angliru as "beautiful" and was understandably thrilled to take her first WorldTour victory. The 24-year-old said that she had been looking forward to taking on the climb since the route was announced.

"I had only one thing in my head. Every day, for me, it was a dream to win this stage," Stiasny told the TV cameras after the stage.

"When I arrived at the Angliru, I feel free. I feel in my place, in my happy place. This is my kind of climb, this is my gradient."

Stiasny was a surprise winner, as a victor of just one professional race before stage 7. However, she looked assured and stuck to her plan throughout the climb, using the steepest sections of L'Angliru to her advantage.

"I still can't believe it, honestly. I'm lost for words. For me, it's incredible. I have no words. I'm speechless," she said.

For Blasi, the overall title at La Vuelta Femenina topped a remarkable season so far. The young Spaniard won Amstel Gold last month and finished on the podium of La Fléche Wallonne.

“It was crazy for us today. It was full of attacks, and we’ve been racing for six days. I was not really feeling at my best, but the team did an amazing job, and I can only be grateful for them," Blasi said.

How it happened

Everything that happened earlier in the week at La Vuelta Femenina 2026 was a preamble to this, arguably cycling’s toughest climb: L’Angliru.

Another steep wall of a climb to Les Praeres had detonated the overall classification on stage 6, meaning that a selection of high profile riders began the final stage at a distance from Van der Breggen’s red jersey.

This meant that a strong-looking breakaway could extricate themselves from the peloton in the opening hour. Femke Markus (SD Worx-ProTime), Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) and Liane Lippert (Movistar) were the three riders who got away, building a lead close to four minutes at its highest point.

Even before L’Angliru, the riders took on three classified climbs to wear down the legs. The third of those, the Alto del Tenebredo, featured extended sections above 10% and saw dozens of riders in the peloton tailed-off and the gap between breakaway and bunch reduced to a minute. That gap doubled as the breakaway hit the final climb.

Riejanne Markus was distanced as the climb started as Lippert drove things on in front and her sister Femke let go of the German soon after. Behind, the trains formed as the race favourites sought an early positional advantage on the first slopes. Lippert, coming into the day 26th overall, held a lead of 90 seconds before the climb’s steepest pitches.

In the group of favourites, diminutive climber Gaia Realini was the first to attack for Lidl-Trek along with Stiasny. Their move shredded the group, with the likes of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) going backwards as she had done 24 hours earlier. Those who came to the fore on stage 6 stayed with Stiasny as Realini faded. With 5.4km left Lippert was caught and just five riders were in touch with red jersey Van der Breggen.

Bunel took the pace up with 4km left, opening up a small gap over Blasi, Van der Breggen and the rest. The overnight leader looked under pressure as she began to lose ground also to Blasi, who was in pursuit of Bunel. Soon, Van der Breggen slipped behind Stiasny and Berthet with the toughest sections of L’Angliru still to come.

Blasi caught Bunel and moved to the front a few hundred metres later, immediately giving her French rival problems as Van der Breggen plummeted further behind. Shortly after, Blasi was clear as Bunel began to falter, being overtaken by Stiasny who was measuring her effort.

On the crucial section above 20%, Stiasny appeared to be closing on Blasi. With 2km to go, the Swiss rider had passed Blasi and extended out into a significant lead as the road flattened, staying strong to take by far the biggest win of her career by 23 seconds over Blasi, with Berthe coming through to third.

Results

La Vuelta Femenina, Stage 7 La Pola Llaviana > L'Angliru, 136.9km

1. Petra Stiasny (Swi), Human Powered Health in 4:09:40
2. Paula Blasi (Esp), UAE Team ADQ, +23s
3. Juliette Berthet (Fra), FDJ United-Suez, +43s
4. Marion Bunel (Fra), Visma-Lease a Bike, +43s
5. Anna van der Breggen (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, +59s
6. Valentina Cavallar (Aus), SD Worx-Protime, +1:10
7. Urška Žigart (Slo), AG Insurance-Soudal, + 1:30
8. Usoa Ostolaza (Esp), Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi, +1:41
9. Barbara Malcotti (Ita), Human Powered Health, +1:56
10. Nienke Vinke (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, +2:16

General Classification after stage 7

1. Paula Blasi (Esp), UAE Team ADQ in 22:17:03
2. Anna van der Breggen (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, +24s
3. Marion Bunel (Fra), Visma-Lease a Bike, +49s
4. Usoa Ostolaza (Esp), Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi, +2:31
5. Juliette Berthet (Fra), FDJ United-Suez, +2:36
6. Urška Žigart (Slo), AG Insurance-Soudal, +2:43
7. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita), Liv-AlUla-Jayco, + 2:51
8. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol), Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto, + 3:06
9. Barbara Malcotti (Ita), Human Powered Health, +3:50
10. Évita Muzic (Fra), FDJ United-Suez, +3:55