The Women's WorldTour Spanish block concludes this week with the longest-running race of them all, the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas. First raced in 2019, Burgos was the race that this stretch of racing built out from, and laid the foundations for races like La Vuelta Femenina.
Four stages long once again for 2026, the race is returning to a familiar climb this year for the showpiece GC finale, finishing atop the Lagunas de Neila ascent. This climb is an icon of the Burgos region, included in the women's race four times before and 39 times in the men's race.
Six kilometres long with an average gradient of 10%, the ascent takes the riders up to nearly 2,000m altitude, and features some seriously steep sections for a really tough challenge. The run in is pretty hilly too, so the difficulty begins before the climb officially starts.
Lagunas de Neila on stage 4 will be the GC decider as it traditionally always is, but the first three stages, whilst flatter, certainly won't be devoid of overall action. Stage 2 is the only real flat day, with stages 1 and 3 both packing in climbing, which should lend itself to either breakaway or puncheur wins.
If someone can rack up some time over the first three stages, they could certainly defend their lead on Lagunas de Neila, even if they're not a pure climber. With that in mind, there's plenty of different riders to watch over the next four days, both clear GC contenders and interesting opportunists.
Defending champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) won't be in action, still recovering from her crash at the Classics, nor will two-time winner Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), so we'll likely see a new winner in northern Spain.
Here's our rundown of the main protagonists for the final Spanish stage race of this month.
Editor's note: team line-ups were incomplete at the time of writing, we will update and add contenders as the start list is confirmed.
Évita Muzic (FDJ United-Suez)
By their standards, FDJ United-Suez have had a somewhat low-key Spanish block, with the absence of Demi Vollering leaving them without a win in the races so far. In theory, these kinds of races are exactly where riders like Juliette Berthet and Évita Muzic are meant to get their own chances at leadership, which they have, but they haven't quite delivered on a win yet. FDJ were arguably the strongest team at Itzulia Women, but missed out on a victory more down to tactical choices, and then Muzic was second at Durango-Durango, confirming her form but just not able to match Blasi.
Given the way she's been riding, Muzic should be the leader in Burgos, and she has a real opportunity to take a win. Despite being a lightweight climber, she's been dealing really well with punchier stages this May, even delivering some pretty powerful sprints, so the first stages shouldn't be a problem for her. She also has a good history on Lagunas de Neila and in this race in general, finishing second overall twice in 2022 and 2024. In a year that has seen loads of FDJ riders win, Muzic is still waiting for her own first win of 2026, so she'll be hunting one down here.
Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek)
Lidl-Trek will look to Shirin van Anrooij as their leader, with Riejanne Markus skipping Burgos after a busy May campaign. Van Anrooij, on the other hand, missed the Vuelta after the Ardennes and only came back for Itzulia, where she finished 25th overall with third on one stage.
Last season, Van Anrooij's year was slightly set back by iliac artery surgery over the winter, but an uninterrupted off-season this time around has seen her return to a really good level in 2026 so far, and the slightly depleted field at Burgos and leadership chance could offer her a good opportunity to show off her climbing and GC abilities. She's got a good team around her and a good day on Lagunas de Neila could come with big rewards.
Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health)
Human Powered Health's diminutive climber Petra Stiasny took an enormous result when she won atop the Angliru in the Vuelta, and it's going to be exciting to see what she can do next, with some hopefully boosted confidence. Her performance in the Vuelta underlined what a fantastic, pure climber she is, so the first three stages here might not quite suit her, but Lagunas de Neila is primed for another strong attack from her. The only difference is all eyes will be on her now, so no one will want to let her go.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has not really made many headlines since her move to Canyon SRAM for 2025, but she's been gradually improving in 2026 so far, and a good ride at the Vuelta saw her finish ahead of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and a lot of good riders on the GC. With no Niewiadoma-Phinney at Burgos, Uttrup Ludwig should get a low-pressure chance to be a leader and show some of her previous climbing level. She's won stages here before, too.
Canyon-SRAM aren't sending a super climby team to this race, with the line-up looking more sprint-focused, so also keep an eye on Chiara Consonni and Zoe Bäckstedt, who could both win a stage in the first part of the race.
Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi)
Apart from Paula Blasi, former Spanish national champion Usoa Ostolaza has arguably been the rider of this May, showing off her strong but often underrated climbing and GC abilities. The 28-year-old finished fourth overall at the Vuelta, dealing really well with both the flatter stages and the monster climbs, and then took seventh overall at Itzulia Women. As the Vuelta showed, Ostolaza can excel on lots of different terrains, which will lend itself well to Burgos, where time gains – or losses – in the first three stages could be as important as the Queen stage. Ostolaza has been strong on big climbs for a long time, but not quite grabbed that top result at the WorldTour level. It would be no surprise for that to finally come in Burgos.
Dominika Włodarczyk & Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)
UAE Team ADQ have smashed the Spanish block so far, obviously winning the Vuelta with Blasi but also taking two stages at Itzulia with the super strong Dominika Włodarczyk. With the job done at the Vuelta, plus a win at Durango-Durango on Tuesday, Blasi isn't lining up at Burgos, but UAE can look to both Włodarczyk and double Tour de France stage winner Maëva Squiban as leaders.
Włodarczyk could win really any of the stages, even multiple, as she did at Itzulia, which could translate into a solid GC result too. Squiban is the purer climber and will be eyeing Lagunas de Neila as her chance to shine, but in this backloaded race, a win on the final stage could also deliver a win or podium overall. UAE should be riding the high of their May so far and will be hoping to add even more success this week, before attention turns to the Giro d'Italia Women with defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini.
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