Noemi Rüegg: “It was the perfect finish”

May 3 ^rd 2026 - 15:17 [GMT + 2]

Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) won the first stage of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es and is the first overall leader of the race.

“This is hard to believe. I'm super happy. It's been a big goal to win this stage, and to finish it off like this is a great reward for the team, that has been amazing all day long. I think I need a few moments to really let it all sink in and realize what happened.”

“The last few kilometres were actually super quick. There were a few crashes and then it all came back together. My teammates put me in a great position and then I knew I wanted to just start my sprint basically from 300 meters to go, at the last switchback. I went around the corner and then basically started my sprint and got a gap. It was the perfect finish.”

“I think it's the biggest victory of my career so far. I came close to a great win in Sanremo and some other races, but winning a grand tour stage is crazy. It's just a big relief, and I want to say a big thank you to everyone who kept believing in me over the past few years. I think it shows that consistency can really get you so far, and that you should never give up and always keep believing. Starting in the red jersey tomorrow is a once in a lifetime chance for me so far, so I'm just going to soak it all in and enjoy before thinking of winning the next stage.”