Noemi Rüegg claimed victory in the first stage of the women’s Vuelta a España, sprinting to the win on Sunday in a fast finish and taking the overall lead.
The 25-year-old Swiss rider from Education First edged out Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) for second place, while Germany’s Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) finished third. Rüegg tops the general classification with a time of 2 hours, 53 minutes, and 40 seconds, matching Koch’s time, but Koch sits second due to winning the intermediate sprint. Kopecky trails by four seconds in third.
The stage was marked by a crash eight kilometers from the finish, which briefly allowed a small group of favorites to break away, including Koch and France’s Férrand-Prévot. However, the quintet was reeled in with four kilometers to go, setting up a drag race on a slight uphill finish. Rüegg powered through to take the win after 2 hours, 53 minutes, and 50 seconds.
One of the biggest losers from the crash was Dutch rider Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), a pre-race favorite for the final victory. Vos managed to rejoin the peloton but couldn’t move up to contest the sprint finish.
The second stage of the women’s Vuelta is scheduled for Monday, covering 109.8 kilometers between Lobios and San Cibrao Das Viñas on a rolling terrain with no categorized climbs.