Noemi Rüegg dons the red jersey in the premiere of La Vuelta a España Femenina

Swiss cyclist Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) has become the first leader of the 2026 Women’s Vuelta a España thanks to her sprint victory this Sunday in the first stage, 113.9 kilometers between the Pontevedra towns of Marín and Salvaterra de Miño. On a day with rain as the main protagonist, a crash with eight kilometers to go, which affected riders such as the Dutch Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), broke up the peloton, although all returned with options to face the final sprint in Salvaterra. There, Rüegg, 25, achieved her first stage victory in a Grand Tour by beating Belgian Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), double world champion, and German Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), the recent winner of Paris-Roubaix, who completed the day’s podium. Now, the German is tied on time with Rüegg in the general classification after having dominated the intermediate sprint in Ponteareas.

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All this on a leg-breaking stage with two categorized climbs of third category that did not allow any breakaway to take the spotlight. Ukrainian Yuliia Biriukova (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) launched a solo attack but was caught before the summit of Alto do Cruceiro. In the intermediate sprint in Ponteareas, with only 25 kilometers to go, Koch was the fastest before a resolution in which, after the multiple crash with eight kilometers remaining, Rüegg donned the red leader’s jersey.

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The race will continue this Monday with the second stage, 109.8 kilometers long, between the Ourense towns of Lobios and San Cibrao das Viñas, without categorized climbs but with more than 2,000 meters of accumulated positive elevation gain.

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