2023 La Vuelta Femenina

The 2023 (officially by Carrefour.es) was the first edition of , a cycling stage race which takes place in Spain. The race took place from 1 to 7 May 2023, and was the 15th event in the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.

The race was organised by Unipublic and Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Vuelta a España. replaced the stage race (previously one day race) Challenge by La Vuelta, which was staged at the same time as the men's tour.

The race was won by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar Team, making her the first woman to win all three of the major stage races in women's cycling (, Tour de France Femmes and Giro Donne). She beat her Dutch rival Demi Vollering of SD Worx by just nine seconds, with Italian Gaia Realini of Trek–Segafredo in third place.

Teams

12 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited, joined by 12 UCI Women's Continental Teams (9 of them from Spain). The teams were announced on 3 March 2023. Each team will have seven riders.

On 26 April, Zaaf Cycling Team withdrew their entry following allegations of unpaid wages. Two days later, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) revoked Zaaf's licence as they lacked the required number of riders. 23 teams therefore took part in the race.

UCI Women's WorldTeams

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UCI Women's Continental Teams

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* Soltec Team
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* Team Farto–BTC
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Route and stages

In February 2023, the route was announced by race director Fernando Escartín, who also confirmed that the race will be sponsored by supermarket Carrefour. The race was the first edition of La Vuelta Femenina, however, the media noted that the race had grown from the previous Challenge by La Vuelta races.

The race started in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca with a team time trial, before heading north with stages through Castilla–La Mancha, Community of Madrid and Castile and León. The final two stages took place in Cantabria and Asturias, with a decisive final climb up the Lagos de Covadonga, a ascent with an average gradient of 7.4%. The first rider to the top of the Lagos de Covadonga climb was awarded the Cima Estela Domínguez, honouring the Spanish rider who was killed while training in 2023.

The previous Challenge by La Vuelta events had been criticised by the women's peloton for not being challenging enough. Three-time Giro Donne winner and 2022 Tour de France Femmes winner Annemiek van Vleuten praised the 2023 route, calling it "a very complete Vuelta", and welcomed that the inclusion of the Lagos de Covadonga climb on the final stage, stating "to end in such a famous location is essential for the race".

Race overview

Prior to the start of the race, Annemiek van Vleuten, Demi Vollering, Gaia Realini, Mavi García, Kasia Niewiadoma and Juliette Labous were all named as pre-race favourites for the general classification (), with Charlotte Kool, Emma Norsgaard and Marianne Vos tipped for the points classification. Potential contender for the general classification Elisa Longo Borghini announced that she would miss the race due to a stomach bug.

For the first time in 2023, each team had 7 riders following a UCI rule change mandating this for events longer than six days. The Zaaf Cycling Team withdrew their entry prior to the start of the event following allegations of unpaid wages. Consequently, 161 riders from 23 teams were present at the start of the race.

Stage 1

;1 May 2023 — Torrevieja, ( TTT)
The first stage of the inaugural edition of La Vuelta Femenina featured a team time trial (TTT) with a length of on the streets of Torrevieja. The course was described as "straightforward", with media noting the rarity of team time trials in the UCI Women's World Tour.

The Sopela Women's Team was the first team off the start ramp, one of nine Spanish teams in the race. Liv Racing TeqFind was the first team to set a time faster than 19 minutes, with Team Jayco–AlUla then beating that time by 11 seconds. The fifteenth team to start was Team Jumbo–Visma, with four of their riders (led by Briton Anna Henderson) setting a time over 30 seconds faster than Jayco–AlUla. None of the eight teams remaining were able to better this time, with Canyon–SRAM getting the closest, setting a time just 1 second slower.

Jumbo–Visma, therefore, won the stage, with Henderson taking the red jersey as the race leader. Amongst the contenders, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) was the fastest, eight and eleven seconds ahead of Gaia Realini ( Trek–Segafredo) and Annemiek van Vleuten ( Movistar Team), respectively. The rest of the potential contenders finished within 40 seconds of Jumbo–Visma.

Stage 2

;2 May 2023 — Orihuela to Pilar de la Horadada,
The second stage took the riders from Orihuela to Pilar de la Horadada over a mostly flat course, with the fourth-category climb of Puerto de Rebate (7.6km at 1.2%) located inside the last 20 kilometres.

Early in the stage, a four-rider breakaway formed, eventually gaining over a minute on the peloton. However, fear of crosswinds meant that the peloton chased and caught the majority of the break with around 50 kilometres remaining. In light of the closeness of the , the bonus seconds available at the intermediate sprint were highly fought over. Femke Markus (SD Worx) took six bonus seconds as first across the line, and her sister Riejanne Markus (Team Jumbo–Visma) took the virtual lead after claiming four bonus seconds.

Jade Wiel (FDJ–Suez) took the single point available at the top of the Puerto de Rebate, taking the first polka-dot jersey as the leader of the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification. The peloton reformed heading into the finish at Pilar de la Horadada, anticipating a bunch sprint. In the final sprint, Chloé Dygert (Canyon–SRAM) gained a gap after attacking with around 500 metres. Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo–Visma) gave chase, catching up to Dygert with around 100 metres to go – however, Charlotte Kool ( Team DSM) used Vos' slipstream to outsprint both riders to win the stage.

Vos took the red jersey thanks to the 6 bonus seconds available at the finish line, with fifty-one riders within a minute of the lead. Kool took the lead of the points classification following her stage victory.

Stage 3

;3 May 2023 — Elche de la Sierra