La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es : Two days to go ...
April 26 th 2024 - 18:08 [GMT + 2]
- Valencia is ready to host the start of La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es. A delightful team presentation in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias will be held on Saturday evening, ahead of Sunday’s opening Team Time Trial.
- 21 teams are ready to take on the eight stages of this edition of the Spanish Grand Tour, all of them willing to end Movistar Team’s domination.
- British rider Abi Smith has put together the best roster reveal of the race by painting her Team dsm firmenich-PostNL line-up. Meanwhile, local amateur team UPV will have a prominent role in the event’s kick-off.
A spectacular team presentation in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Each and every participant of La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es is already in Valencia as of Friday, and so are most of the members of the race convoy. The headquarters for all the pre-race operations has been set-up on the Museo de las Ciencias, one of the central facilities of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias - the City of Arts and Sciences, a beautiful complex offering projections, exhibitions and workshops relating to many different fields of knowledge. Cycling’s temporary takeover of its space will last through Sunday, when the opening 16-kilometre Team Time Trial will start and finish in this iconic fixture of Valencia. On the eve of this, a team presentation will be held from 18.30 CEST. Hosted by Eurosport journalist Laura Álvarez and women’s cycling specialist Celia López, it will feature every rider participating in the race, as well as technical insights from race director Fernando Escartín and race ambassadress Dori Ruano. The event will be broadcasted live in La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es official channels. Those planning to attend in person might as well come in early, as the party will start from 17.00 CEST with raffles, giveaways and live music played by DJ Neus González.
Three mountaintop finishes – and much more
“It is nice to see our events growing at this rate,” says Canyon//SRAM rider ‘Kasia’ Niewiadoma when asked about the evolution of La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es. With her words, the winner of the recent La Flèche Wallonne Femmes pointed at the fact that the event has yet again expanded its schedule, this time by one stage – from seven in 2023 to eight this year. The Valencia TTT will light things up, with three relatively flat stages finishing in Moncofa (2nd stage), Teruel (3rd) and Zaragoza (4th) offering a chance for fast women to aim for victory – and, given the bonus seconds awarded in every finish line, why not for the GC leader red jersey, also known as La Roja. Some of them will also be able to contend in Sigüenza’s uphill finish (7th stage). The other three stages, though, will be a climbers’ affaire. Three mountaintop finishes, all of them previously featured in men’s La Vuelta, are set to define the overall standings. First comes the steep ascent to Fuerte Rapitán (5th stage), in the outskirts of Jaca, followed by the dragging climb to Laguna Negra de Vinuesa (6th). The last, deciding stage will be held next Sunday, May 5th between the Distrito Telefónica in Madrid and the Valdesquí winter sport complex. The 12,8-kilometre final climb will be preceded by the 9,2-kilometre ascent to the Puerto de La Morcuera. Between both passes, and some lumpy terrain here and there, total up 1.870 meters of elevation gain in just 89,5 kilometres of racing – a proper, thrilling mountain stage!
21 teams ready to challenge Movistar Team
The peloton of La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es will be formed by 21 teams of 7 riders each. 13 of the outfits belong to the UCI Women’s WorldTour, the top tier in women’s cycling, while the remaining 8 are UCI Continental Teams. Amongst the entrants we find three squads that have been present in each and every edition of the Spanish event, a recurrence dating back to the 2015 La Challenge by La Vuelta. These are UAE Team ADQ, the Netherlands’ Team dsm firmenich PostNL and Norway’s Coop-Repsol. On the opposite situation are the four debutant teams. Three of them are WWT material: Belgium’s AG Insurance - Soudal Team and Fenix-Deceuninck, and USA’s EF Education-Cannondale, not to be mistaken with the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB setup that did participate between 2021 and 2023 yet folded last winter. From France, although with a Chinese title sponsor, comes the Winspace team. They will all try to end the domination of Movistar Team, the only Spanish Women’s WorldTour team and winner of the overall classification of both the last two editions of La Challenge by La Vuelta and the maiden La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es with Dutch legend Annemiek van Vleuten.
The art of the line-up announcement
During the week, every single one of the 21 teams taking part in La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es has dropped a press release, a video or at the very least a tweet to reveal its seven-woman squad for the race. Yet, if we are to proclaim a winner on this digital wit-parade, it definitely is Team dsm firmenich PostNL – the only team to disclose its roster with an original painting! Furthermore, the author is one of the riders who are entering the race, England’s Abi Smith. “I have always enjoyed drawing and painting, and after high school I studied Arts,” she explains. It was only natural that this former triathlete from North Yorkshire would at some point try to combine both her passions – the brush and the bike. “The media team at DSM had seen some of my artwork. They presented a few ideas to me, the main one being the creation of a piece to announce the Vuelta Femenina squad. Collectively we thought of painting the rider names on a section of road, because it is an iconic view for Grand Tours.” Add a mountainous backdrop to suits well the nature of the La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es course and you get a singular, beautiful way to communicate a line-up to your team’s fans. Smith’s creativity goes even further: she is also into ‘Strava Art’, which translates as drawing figures on the map with her rides. “That came about through boredom during lockdown,” the Brit chuckles as to explain why there are butterflies, elephants or cats all over her Strava page. “Sometimes I even go off-road in order to complete a drawing,” she laughs.
A shout-out to local cycling in Valencia
Legacy as important as racing for La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es. In order to promote local cycling, the Spanish event has invited the UPV cycling team to participate on the opening 16-kilometre Team Time Trial. UPV is short for Universitat Politècnica de València, a University near the Malvarrosa beach that has strengthened its cycling program this winter. More than 50 riders, from the U16 category up to the Elite ranks, ride on this outfit. Most of them are Spanish cyclists, like former Spanish U23 ITT vice-champion María Banllés or track rider Isabel Ferreres, yet there is also space for international talents like Dutch globetrotter Nicolien Luijstenburg or Paraguay’s brilliant Junior prospect Flor Revetria. On Sunday, two seven-strong UPV squads will take on the TTT from 15.20 and 15.25 CEST. Half an hour later, at 15.56, the first participating team of La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es will roll out the start ramp.
