Amber Kraak, who started the penultimate stage in 14th place in the general classification after a strong time trial, was in the first breakaway. It got established early in the race but the three were soon caught by the peloton, after which stage winner Van Vleuten chose to attack. On the hilly route to the finish in Pereiro de Aguiar both the chasing group of eight riders and the peloton were unable to catch the Dutch rider. Henderson finished second in the sprint of the peloton.

Sports director Marco Postma: “It is a shame we were not in the first group. As a result we were trailing behind. Annemiek was super strong. We tried to get closer to the chasing group, but the gap was too big. Anna used the last sprint to test her legs. She showed that if it will turn out to be a sprint tomorrow, we can really compete for the win. Today we already decided to focus on tomorrow. I think we have a good chance to get a good result there.”

The four-day stage race concludes on Sunday with a relatively flat stage in Santiago de Compostela, the location of the conclusion for the Vuelta a España for men as well.