Itzulia Women: Mischa Bredewold wins overall victory, Dominika Włodarczyk claims final stage

Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) won the 2026 Itzulia Women, successfully defending her race lead by closing the gap to a front group of seven riders in the streets of Donostia. Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) took the final stage ahead of Évita Muzic and Lauren Dickson (both FDJ United-Suez), repeating her victory from stage 2.

During stage 3, the yellow jersey was dropped on the Mendizorrotz climb and was 30 seconds behind the front group with 10 km remaining. However, Bredewold made a crucial descent, returning to the front group and sprinting to a sixth-place finish in the stage. Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech) finished second in the general classification and Dickson was third, both 21 seconds behind Bredewold.

Bredewold expressed her emotions after the race, stating, "It’s making me emotional. The support from the team was incredible. I really started to believe I could do it today because they really believed in me. I’m very, very happy to take this victory." This marked Bredewold's first overall win in the Itzulia Women, a race where she has previously claimed five stages but had not managed to secure the overall title until now.

Reflecting on her performance, she said, "Last year, I overpaced myself on the climb in the beginning. I knew that was my biggest enemy today. Friday, I felt a little bit better on the climb, but I was struggling with position. I thought that if I take over, with the headwind, it’s going to cost me too much energy, so I really had to pace it."

Recounting the final moments of the race, she mentioned, "I saw the gap was not too big and I knew the flatter part and then the technical descent is my part. When I came down, I saw them, and I had only one goal. I don’t think I dug this deep in my life before; I almost fainted behind the podium just now. But we made it."

Włodarczyk secured the stage 3 victory in a reduced sprint, marking a successful conclusion to the race.