Vuelta a Burgos Feminas 2024

The Spanish season of Women’s WorldTour racing continues with the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, starting on 16 May and finishing on 19 May. The four-day race is the third in a trilogy starting with La Vuelta Fémenina and continuing with Itzulia Women, and could be a third stage race title in a row for the dominant Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime).

This is the ninth edition of the race and the fourth with WorldTour status, having started as a national-level race in 2015. Typically a challenging, mountainous route that suits the top climbers, the organisers this year have gone for a parcours of two flat and two medium-mountain stages, meaning the general classification is likely to stay relatively open and go right down to the wire.

As well as looking for her third Spanish GC win in a row, Vollering will arrive at the start line in Villagonzalo Pedernales aiming to defend the title she won last year, supported as ever by a formidable SD Worx-Protime squad. In 2023 she dropped all her rivals on the Queen stage, winning both the stage and the overall, but it was the battle for the remaining podium spots that was closer. Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) was second, more than two minutes behind Vollering, with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal) just four seconds off the pace in third.

This year Vollering’s biggest challenge may come from her own teammate Marlen Reusser, while the likes of van Anrooij, Soraya Paladin and Elise Chabbey (both Canyon-SRAM), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) will look to spring an upset and snatch a major win.

Vuelta a Burgos Féminas 2024 key information

When is the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas 2024? The Vuelta a Burgos Féminas will start on Thursday 16 May and conclude on Sunday 19 May.

Where does the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas 2024 take place? The Vuelta a Burgos Féminas takes place in the region of Castile and Léon in northwestern Spain.

Who won the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas in 2023? The 2023 Vuelta a Burgos Féminas was won by Demi Vollering, who claimed victory on the final stage with a big enough margin to secure the overall title.

When did the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas start? The first edition of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas took place in 2015, but it was elevated to WorldTour status in 2021 when it was won by Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans).

Who has the most wins at the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas? No rider has won the overall more than once, but Demi Vollering leads the way with stage wins, having won three and been in the top 10 seven times – more than any other rider.

Vuelta a Burgos Féminas 2024 preview: route and contenders

This Vuelta a Burgos Féminas will see the riders tackle four stages of almost exactly uniform length, with several categorised climbs packed into a punchy parcours.

Stage 1 starts in Villagonzalo Pedernales, running for 123km over three category 3 climbs before the road flattens out on the way to Burgos. The climbs are all fairly gentle and spread out throughout the stage. The first, Alto de Coculina, is 4km at 3% and feels the likely springboard for an enterprising breakaway, coming 50km into the race. The next two climbs are both shorter: the Alto de la Nuez is 2km at 6%, around 40km before the finish, and the Alto del Aguílon is 2.4km long at 4%. After that, it’s a short descent and flat run to the finish, with an intermediate sprint on the descent from the final climb – inside the last 15km – for the sprinters’ trains to get in order and test the legs.

Stage 2 throws in an uphill finish to keep things interesting as the peloton travels 123km from Briviesca to Medina de Pomar, crossing the line atop the Alto de Rosales, a category 2 climb. There are a few bumps in the road before the day’s first serious climb, another category 3, the 7.7km long Alto de Barcina, which averages at 4%. Then it’s a long, mostly flat run with intermediate sprint points on offer at the 20km to go mark, with attacks likely to come – and a plucky breakaway likely to be caught – on the final climb up to the finish, the 3.8km uphill drag to Alto de Rosales, which has an average gradient of 5%. Expect to see the leader’s jersey change hands here.

On stage 3 the sprinters get another chance to shine, on a (technically) flat 122km route from Roa de Duero with not a single categorised climb in sight. There are a few awkward uncategorised hills to navigate, but this should be a day for the sprint trains to control, especially as it’s absolutely pan-flat from the 100km mark until the finish. Once again there’s an intermediate sprint shortly before close of play, at Padilla de Abajo just 8km from the line in Melgar de Fernamental, so that could make for a nervy run to the finish as the sprinters jostle for position and points – and to maintain that position all the way to the end.

The GC battle is likely to be decided on the final day and Queen stage, the first and only serious mountain stage of the race. From the start line in Peñaranda de Duero the general direction of the 122km stage is uphill, with rolling terrain leading the riders to the category 3 Alto de Arroyo climb, a 3.2km drag at 5.3%. After that, it’s skyward once again, with an intermediate sprint positioned on another uphill section at Huerta di Arriba with around 30km to go. There’s an uncategorised climb and a short descent before the race’s toughest climb, the Alto de Rozavientos, which is only 3.5km long but kicks up at an average of 9.3% leading to the race’s highest point at 1595m. Whoever crests the mountain first has the advantage of a long descent – around 10km – before a slight pitch uphill to the line in Canicosa de la Sierra.

While not quite as starry as the GC lineup for the Vuelta Fémenina there are still plenty of riders for this four-day race who will have aspirations of lifting the trophy at the end. Alongside Vollering – who is certainly in brilliant stage-racing form after a mediocre Spring Classics campaign – her teammate Reusser is well-placed to perform strongly on the slightly easier mountain stages here.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig returns from several months sidelined with injury and has past form at this race, winning a stage in 2021, so she’ll be one to watch despite her lengthy lay-off. Shirin van Anrooij is also back in action and will be motivated to build on her second place overall in 2023, while Elise Chabbey and Évita Muzic are also in a rich vein of form – the latter beating Vollering on a summit finish at Itzulia Women, although there aren’t the same long, steep climbs she favours on offer here. Soraya Paladin won two stages on her way to second overall here in 2019, so she could be another to look out for despite a fairly muted start to the year.

On the flatter stages, expect Lorena Wiebes to add to her already-storied list of wins (and to make amends for celebrating too early at Amstel Gold last month). Her main challenger will be Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), while a whole host of others – including punchier riders like Liane Lippert (Movistar) – are also more than capable of handling the lumps and bumps throughout the race.

Major Races

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Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT

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