Demi Vollering secured her third World Tour GC victory of the 2024 season in Vuelta a Burgos, after dominating another climbing stage in Spain against strong competition.
It was the queen stage in Vuelta a Burgos and another chance for Demi Vollering to show her talents on a hard stage in Spain. After winning Vuelta a Burgos stage 2 on Alto de Rosales with a fast finish in the last kilometre, it was unlikely that Evita Muzic or other climbers could stop Vollering. The day would be decided on the mighty Alto de Rozavientos (3.5 km, 9.46%), which is a different side of the famous Lagunas de Neila, but the race did not go all the way to the top.
It was a hard day for riders in the peloton as Evita Muzic spent 1,700 kilojoules before Alto de Rozavientos. 12.60 kj/kg/h for 2:45h is a very intense stage for the women’s peloton. The rainy conditions also did not help.
Without surprise, Vollering dropped everyone on the steep climb, averaging 5.59 ᵉW/Kg for 12:35 min. Muzic lost 19 seconds with 5.43 ᵉW/Kg. The TV coverage was not the best, making it hard to estimate power for other riders but based on Strava climbing times Shirin van Anrooij and Elisa Chabey pushed 5.24 ᵉW/Kg and 5.21 ᵉW/Kg respectively.
Vollering increased her gap after the climb and beat Muzic by more than a minute, securing her second Vuelta a Burgos GC win in a row. After not winning a single hilly classic in the first part of the season, Vollering managed to triumph in La Vuelta, Itzulia and Burgos in a span of three weeks. The Dutch champion proved that she is still by far the best climber in the women's peloton and will be hard to beat in Le Tour, even if her team is not fully supporting her.
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