The Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta keeps growing in its eighth edition, the longest to date, and the last one to be so tightly associated with the men’s La Vuelta, as many of the riders from the UCI Women’s World Tour gear up for five days of racing from Marina de Cudeyo to Madrid, where both the women’s and men’s peloton will arrive on Sunday.
It’s the final season of racing in this format as in 2023, the women’s version of the men’s Grand Tour will be set in May with a full week of racing.
There are no 'official' Grand Tours in women's cycling, but nevertheless, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) remains close to completing a clean sweep of the traditional 'big three' stage races.
Van Vleuten returns to the event as the defending champion eyeing another prestigious stage race victory this year after the Giro d’Italia Donne and the Tour de France Femmes.
“I’m racing for a Spanish team, so it’s always special to race in Spain, and I’m excited for this Vuelta - also starting from Cantabria, which is such a beautiful region”, van Vleuten said.
“I’ve been doing some training in Cantabria over the past few months. Also, stage four will be on roads close to Valladolid, where I already raced a World Cup leg back in 2010.
“I expect some windy racing, where we will need to be super focused - and it’s nice to have that one longer stage. I think the team time trial and stage two in Colindres will be quite key. Stage 2, in particular, is the place where I feel I can make the difference.
Van Vleuten provided an improbable comeback after fighting through illness on the early stages at the Tour de France, the performance even more impressive as it was just two weeks after the conclusion of the Giro where she was a comfortable victor.
The 39-year-old talked about the difficulties of winning the Spanish race, stating the differences in the routes made it harder for a climber to take the victory.
“In general, I think this will be the one from the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta that is hardest to target, because the route is not that hard,” van Vleuten said.
“Everyone knows I’m a fan of harder racing, and my chances would be rising with a harder parcours, with longer stages, climbs and mileage.”
The well-known bluntness of van Vleuten meant that she shied away from the ‘triple’ speculation, highlighting the differences between the races’ claims as ‘Grand Tours’.
“When it comes to the race itself, though, I cannot say that the ‘triple’ is a goal in itself,” van Vleuten explained.
“That owes to the fact that, even if the Ceratizit Challenge carries the name of La Vuelta on it, it still hasn’t got the hard stages nor the length, the kilometres, you’d like to find in what you would consider a Grand Tour - it’s also just five days at the moment, with one of them being Madrid’s circuit race.
The Tour de France Femmes saw an unprecedented amount of attention on the women’s peloton as they raced in the relaunched edition of the premier French event. Van Vleuten hopes that will flow on to other races attracting the same attention.
“I sincerely hope the impact of the Tour de France Femmes - such a breakthrough moment for women’s cycling - has created something which I have already felt can help it grow, because its effects can hopefully make organisers realise we’re ready for it,” van Vleuten added. “All of that said, it’s a nice race I’m so keen to get into.”
Watch all the action from Spain with us as SBS broadcasts the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta from September 8-11 on SBS On Demand, with replays of each stage available a few hours after their conclusion.
