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A shot of the jersey-wearers on the front of the peloton waiting to get going in Gijón. .
Two riders have attacked and opened up a 30 second lead in the early stages. Marine Allione (Mayenne-Monbana-MyPie) and Elisa Valtulini (Vini Fantini-BePink) are the riders who have separated themselves from the bunch.
There has been an early crash for Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ).
Two riders have not started the stage today. They are Marthe Goossens (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Natalie Quinn (Mayenne Monbana My Pie).
Niewiadoma-Phinney, Ferrand-Prévot and Van der Breggen go into the stage as the big favourites, but there are a number of riders from the second tier of favourites who could surprise.
Liane Lippert has looked good this week, as have Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Cedrine Kerbaol. The likes of Ricarda Bauernfeind, Monica Trinca Colonel and Evita Muzic could also challenge.
Lotte Kopecky is expected to struggle on the final climb, but the former world champion has done exceptional things in the mountains before.
10 minutes to go until the start of the stage.
Yesterday’s stage was a real show of force by SD Worx-ProTime as they took a 1-2 through Bredewold and Kopecky.
We go into this stage with the General Classification very close. The top 25 riders are separated by just 32 seconds, meaning that there are a number of riders who could challenge for the lead today.
Anna van der Breggen is one of the favourites today, but the SD Worx-ProTime leader crashed twice in yesterday’s stage. How will it affect her performance today?
Here is Cyclingnews’ detailed preview of today’s stage: Wall of Praeres expected to crush challengers and shake up GC standings
Today is the shortest stage of this year’s Vuelta Feminina, with just 106km ahead of the riders today. It’s a lumpy course for the opening 102km before a real wall of a finish.
Yesterday it was Mischa Bredewold who took the win on a gruelling sprint finish in Astorga, leading home an SD Worx-ProTime 1-2 with Lotte Kopecky in second place. Kopecky retained the maillot rojo while Bredewold moved up to 4th overall.
It’s almost like a new race is beginning today. The first five stages have been fought by the sprinters and classics riders. Today it’s time for the climbers to play.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Anna van der Breggan and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot are the big favourites. Who will be wearing the red jersey come the end of the day?
The riders will get underway from Gijón at 14:53 local time, just under 40 minutes from now.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of stage 6 of La Vuelta Feminina 2026. It’s the first of a doubleheader of big mountain stages which will decide this year’s race.