The Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta is starting to be called a real stage race. The women's competition at the Tour of Spain, which was first held in 2015 as a one-day race, has worked its way up over two, three and four race days in recent years to its current duration of five stages.
This means that the eighth edition of the women's Vuelta is still far behind the Giro Donne with ten stages (the organisation of which, however, has nothing to do with the Giro d'Italia of the men) and also behind the revitalised Tour de France Femmes with eight daily sections. But the extension is definitely a step forward.
Javier Guillen, Vuelta boss of the men's and women's race, describes the current edition as "the toughest tour yet". Quite rightly so, as a look at the course shows.
The stages of the women's Vuelta
Stage 1 (07/09/2022): Marina de Cudeyo - Marina de Cudeyo, 19.9 kilometres (team time trial)
The race starts in Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria. The team time trial over almost 20 kilometres will already ensure small gaps.
Stage 2 (08/09/2022): Colindres - Colindres, 105.9 kilometres
After the team time trial to kick off the women's Vuelta, it's straight into the mountains of Cantabria. A total of five peaks, including two in the first category, have to be conquered on the circuit around Colindres. It is something of a queen stage for the women.
Stage 3 (09/09/2022): Camargo - Aguilar de Campoo, 96.4 kilometres
On the third day, the route undulates between Camargo and Aguilar de Campoo on the central Spanish plateau.
Stage 4 (10/09/2022): Palencia - Segovia, 160 kilometres
Stage number four of the women's Vuelta from Palencia to Segovia is largely flat, but the finale leads uphill in a long sprint. Above all, the route is 160 kilometres long - a new record length for a stage of the women's Tour of Spain.
Stage 5 (11/09/2022): Madrid - Madrid, 95.6 kilometres
The final stage will be held in Madrid on 11 September, parallel to the final of the men's race, which also ends in Madrid.
The start list of the women's Vuelta with shirt numbers
Movistar Team Women
- 1 Annemiek van Vleuten
- 2 Katrine Aalerud
- 3 Aude Biannic
- 4 Sara Martin Martin
- 5 Emma Cecilie Norsgaard Bjerg
- 6 Arlenis Sierra Canadilla
Team SD Worx
- 11 Demi Vollering
- 12 Niamh Fisher-Black
- 13 Lotte Kopecky
- 14 Marlen Reusser
- 15 Anna Shackley
- 16 Kata Blanka Vas
Trek-Segafredo
- 21 Elisa Balsamo
- 22 Elynor Backstedt
- 23 Lucinda Brand
- 24 Amalie Dideriksen
- 25 Elisa Longo Borghini
- 26 Shirin van Anrooij
FDJ Suez Futuroscope
- 31 Cecilie Ludwig
- 32 Grace Brown
- 33 Brodie Chapman
- 34 Vittoria Guazzini
- 35 Marie Le Net
- 36 Evita Muzic
Team DSM
- 41 Juliette Labous
- 42 Francesca Barale
- 43 Lea Curinier
- 44 Megan Jastrab
- 45 Liane Lippert
- 46 Floortje Mackaij
Canyon//SRAM Racing
- 51 Katarzyna Niewiadoma
- 52 Alena Amialiusik
- 53 Elise Chabbey
- 54 Mikayla Harvey
- 55 Pauliena Rooijakkers
- 56 Sarah Roy
UAE Team ADQ
- 61 Mavi Garcia
- 62 Marta Bastianelli
- 63 Sofia Bertizzolo
- 64 Maaike Boogaard
- 65 Laura Tomasi
- 66 Sophie Wright
Team Jumbo-Visma
- 71 Anouska Koster
- 72 Carlijn Achtereekte
- 73 Amber Kraak
- 74 Linda Riedmann
- 75 Aafke Soet
- 76 Karlijn Swinkels
Team BikeExchange-Jayco
- 81 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez
- 82 Teniel Campbell
- 83 Kristen Faulkner
- 84 Alexandra Manly
- 85 Ruby Roseman-Gannon
- 86 Georgia Williams
Valcar - Travel & Service
- 91 Silvia Persico
- 92 Olivia Baril
- 93 Chiara Consonni
- 94 Korolina Kumiega
- 95 Federica Piergiovanni
- 96 Elizabeth Stannard
Liv Racing Xstra
- 101 Valerie Demey
- 102 Thalita de Jong
- 103 Marta Jaskulska
- 104 Tereza Neumanova
- 105 Sabrina Stultiens
- 106 Quinty clay
EF Education-TIBCO-SVB
- 111 Veronica Ewers
- 112 Letizia Borghesi
- 113 Krista Doebel-Hickok
- 114 Sara Poidevin
- 115 Omer Shapira
- 116 Lauren Stephens
Ceratizit - WNT Pro Cycling Team
- 121 Marta Lach
- 122 Sandra Alonso Dominguez
- 123 Laura Asencio
- 124 Maria Giulia Confalonieri
- 125 Hann Nilsson
- 126 Lea Lin Teutenberg
Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad
- 131 Hannah Book
- 132 Ines Cantera Carrasco
- 133 Lea Stern
- 134 Petra Stiasny
- 135 Anna Gabrielle Traxler
Team Coop - Hitec Products
- 141 Carolina Andersson
- 142 Ingvild Gaskjenn
- 143 Ane Iversen
- 144 Josie Nelson
- 145 Jessica Roberts
- 146 Nicole Steigenga
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
- 151 Joscelin Lowden
- 152 Marte Berg Edseth
- 153 Julie Leth
- 154 Hannah Ludwig
- 155 Amalie Lutro
- 156 Anne Dorthe Ysland
Human Powered Health
- 161 Nina Buijsman
- 162 Antri Christoforou
- 163 Evy Kuijpers
- 164 Barbara Malcotti
- 165 Marit Raaijmakers
- 166 Eri Yonamine
Massi - Tactic Women Team
- 171 Aurela Nerlo
- 172 Maaike Colje
- 173 Mireia Benito Pellicer
- 174 Nathalie Eklund
- 175 Miryam Nunez
- 176 Andrea Ramirez Fregoso
Bizkaia - Durango
- 181 Lucia Gonzalez
- 182 Daniela Campos
- 183 Eukene Larrarte Arteaga
- 184 Irene Mendez Melgarejo
- 185 Aileen Schweikart
- 186 Catalina Soto Campos
Soltec Team
- 191 Anna Kiesenhofer
- 192 Andrea Alzate Gomez
- 193 Wendy Ducreux
- 194 Ana Vitoria Gouvea Vieira Almeida Magalhaes
- 195 Rocio Martin Rodriguez
- 196 Manuela Murresan
Laboral Kutxa - Fundacion Euskadi
- 201 Iurani Blanco
- 202 Tania Calvo Barbero
- 203 Idoia Eraso Lasa
- 204 Ariana Gilabert Vilaplan
- 205 Sandra Gutierrez Conde
- 206 Usoa Ostolaza Zabala
Rio Miera - Cantabria Deporte
- 211 Carolina Esteban Fernandez
- 212 Eva Anguela Yaguez
- 213 Mercedes Carmona Ramos
- 214 Susana Perez Conejero
- 215 Elena Perez Munoz
- 216 Laura Tenorio Herrero
TV broadcast & stream of the women's Vuelta
The first four stages can be seen on Eurosport 2, while the final stage will be shown on Eurosport 1. All stages will also be streamed on Eurosportplayer. The TV broadcast times at a glance.
- 07.09.: 18:20-19:45 (Eurosport 2)
- 08.09.: 18:20-19:45 (Eurosport 2)
- 09.09.. 18:20-19:45 (Eurosport 2)
- 10.09.: 18:20-19:45 (Eurosport 2)
- 11.09.: 13:30-15:00 (Eurosport 1)
The classification jerseys at the women's Vuelta
Red jersey
The jersey for the rider who comes first in the overall standings. In other words, the rider with the lowest overall time.
Green jersey
The jersey for the rider who leads the points classification - according to the points collected in the intermediate sprints and at the finish of the stages.
The mountain jersey
The jersey for the rider who takes first place in the mountain prize classification, according to the points she has collected on individual climbs.
Most combative driver
It is the rider who, in the organiser's opinion, has shown the greatest sporting spirit and the greatest effort on the respective stage. She wears the white jersey. On the last day of the race, the race organisers decide on the most combative rider of the entire women's Vuelta.
What is the future of the Vuelta for women?
Is the combination of both races the right way forward for the women's competition? "It's logistically very ambitious to hold two races in parallel," says Vuelta route planner Fernando Escartin, emphasising: "If you want to make the women's race longer, you have to hold it independently of the men's Vuelta." However, because the road world championships traditionally start a week after the Tour of Spain, there is not much room in the race calendar.
Vuelta boss Guillen is targeting an expansion to seven or eight stages for 2023 or 2024. Unlike in men's road cycling, where the three major national tours in France, Spain and Italy traditionally set the tone, the Challenge by la Vuelta has serious competition from other tours with six stages each.
The British Women's Tour is regarded as an exemplary organisation, and the newly created Tour of Scandinavia through Denmark, Sweden and Norway also wants to establish itself as part of the Women's World Tour. This dynamic is good for the development of women's cycling. But is it also good for the future of the women's Vuelta?
