Franziska Koch: “La Roja really gives you some extra power”

May 5 ^th 2026 - 18:12

Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) remains in the overall lead of La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es after Stage 3.

“It was a really hard day. In the beginning, it actually felt quite chill - at least for me. My teammates had to ride a little bit to keep the breakaway under control in the first half of the stage, and then the roads along the coast were super hard. After the Intermediate Sprint, it was just full gas. The steep climb after the sprint was super hard. It basically had two steep sections, and I went really deep in the first one because I thought it was the summit. When the second kicker came, I started to struggle. Then luckily there was a group behind me that helped me come back to the front. Afterwards, in the last 10 kilometeres, we were basically riding full gas on every kicker and that made for a very tough final.”

“I fell sick after the Amstel Gold Race, but I still came to this race because I knew that some of those stages really suited me. Having a third and a second place, and wearing La Roja for two days, is already amazing. This red jersey really gives you some extra power, I would say. My team is fully committed to defend it, and then I really want to finish it off for my teammates.”