LA VUELTA FEMENINA 26 BY CARREFOUR.ES: LEGENDARY ANGLIRU TO CULMINATE A COURSE DESIGNED FOR CLIMBERS

March 9 ^th 2026 - 19:30 [GMT + 1]

Key points:

• This Monday, the Auditorio Municipal of Ribeira hosted the route presentation for the fourth edition of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, set to be held from May 3rd to 9th.
• The course will consist of seven stages, starting with some lumpy days in Galicia before heading to Asturias for two back-to-back summit finishes - the first one at Les Praeres, and the final one in the legendary Alto d’Angliru.
• La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es seems perfect for a showdown between the best climbers of the peloton. Renowned stars like Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Marianne Vos or Lotte Kopecky have already included the Spanish race in their schedules.

The Auditorio Municipal of Ribeira, a beautiful port town overseeing the vast Atlantic Ocean and the scenic saline estuary of the Ría de Arousa, held this Monday, March 9th, the route presentation of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es. The fourth edition of the Spanish race will consist of seven stages, starting on Sunday, May 3rd in Galicia to culminate on Saturday, May 9th atop the Angliru after a climbing-heavy course set to favor those riders who seem to fly uphill. Olympic gold medallist and reigning Tour de France champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has already confirmed her participation in the race, as has her teammate at Visma-Lease a Bike, Marianne Vos, as well as Belgian star Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), Swiss powerhouse Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) and UAE Team ADQ’s Spanish power duo Mavi García and Paula Blasi.

Galicia will host the first four stages of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es, and it’s all but guaranteed it will be both the backdrop and the protagonist of the event those days. The roads of this region in the north-west of Spain are lumpy by nature, and will require the female peloton to climb no less than 8,000 metres of elevation gain over the little more than 450 kilometres accumulated in the four opening days. Both the initial stage in Pontevedra and the second one in Orense will prove demanding throughout the day, before finishing with a series of challenging climbs that will prevent a mass sprint - and the fourth stage in Lugo, with an uphill finish in Antas de Ulla, anticipates a similar scenario. The sprinters’ best chance to shine in Galicia will come in the third stage with a flat finish in the region’s most populated city, A Coruña.

Another capital city, León, will host the start of the fifth stage. This should be the easiest outing of the week for the riders, with just 119 kilometres and a mere two category-three climbs in sight - yet the threat here is an invisible one. Crosswinds already shook things up in last year’s stage in the province of León, between Becerril de Campos and Baltanás. That day, Marianne Vos claimed the win over a decimated bunch to become the rider with the most stage victories in the history of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es (6) along with her compatriot Demi Vollering, who has also conquered the race overall standings twice.

Who will succeed the Dutch rider as owner of La Roja - the red leader’s jersey? This is a question to be answered by Asturias, the region that will host the two final, most mountainous days of the event. The sixth stage will end with the climb to Les Praeres, an ascent that has been tackled twice by the men’s peloton at La Vuelta with triumphs for the UK’s Simon Yates (2018) and South Africa’s Louis Meintjes (2022). Nearly four kilometres long with an average gradient of 13%, Les Praeres was described by 1988 Tour de France champion Pedro Delgado as “the mini Angliru…”

… And thus there is no better way to top things off than by climbing the original Angliru, with its 12.4 kilometres of gruelling climbing at 9.7% average and ramps up to 23%. The Asturian giant was first introduced in La Vuelta back in 1999, and has been featured nine times since - the last one in September, when João Almeida kept Jonas Vingegaard at bay to score an emphatic win. On Saturday, May 9th, the women’s peloton will first get acquainted with the Alto de Angliru as it plays a star role in the finale of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es. That day, the riders will have to climb more than 3,200 metres on a stage that will become the hardest in the history of this race, surpassing the 2,700 metres climbed in last year’s final stage to Cotobello.

Stages - La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es

• Sunday, May 3rd, Stage 1 : Marín > Salvaterra de Miño (113 km)
• Monday, May 4th, Stage 2 : Lobios > San Cibrao das Viñas (109 km)
• Tuesday, May 5th, Stage 3 : Padrón > A Coruña (121 km)
• Wednesday, May 6th, Stage 4 : Monforte de Lemos > Antas de Ulla (115 km)
• Thursday, May 7th, Stage 5 : León > Astorga (119 km)
• Friday, May 8th, Stage 6 : Gijón/Xixón > Les Praeres. Nava (106 km)
• Saturday, May 9th, Stage 7 : La Pola Llaviana/Pola de Laviana > L'Angliru (132 km)