Going into stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina, Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) had not planned to spend more than three hours on her own at the front of the race. But when she came off the first descent of the day, she was alone and just kept going, only being caught by the peloton with 7.5km to go.
“The first tricky downhill was really wet and slippery, and when I was down, it was just myself. I thought that maybe someone else will join me after a few kilometres, but unfortunately, I was alone the whole day, that made it a really tough stage," Benito said.
"But I gave it all and really wanted to make it to the end, or at least as far as possible, so that's what I did.”
In the first hour of the 130.2km stage, the Spanish time trial champion’s advantage wasn’t much more than a minute, but eventually it ballooned to over five minutes. Ticking off kilometre by kilometre, the 27-year-old was encouraged by the roadside fans cheering her on.
“It was crazy. It was so nice to hear my name. It was a huge motivation for me, especially when I was seeing kids, young kids, screaming my name. It was a super feeling. I wanted to cry, but in a good way. It kept my motivation really high to keep pushing until the end,” she said.
The 27-year-old Spanish rider would finish well back in the lead group with the same time as stage 3 winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike). For her breakaway effort, Benito was awarded the day’s combativity prize and will, therefore, wear the white combativity jersey on stage 4.
Following the stage, Benito also paid tribute to a childhood friend who passed away last year. "A childhood friend of mine died one year ago. In the first kilometers of the stage I felt she was riding along with me, and I decided to send a little kiss her way."
The 2024 La Vuelta Femenina is the second edition of the race that is held in late April and early May under the re-branded name, part of a general boom in Spanish women’s cycling. Benito is happy to inspire the younger generation with her example.
“I think that we are making steps in the right direction, and I see that especially with the young kids. You can see more and more young girls coming to the buses and campers to say hi to us. It’s so, so sweet to see the light in their eyes when they look at you and they are, ‘wow, you are a professional cyclist’.
"And it's so nice to be able to talk with them and to show them that this is a possible way to live, that this is a possible job for them to have. It’s great that they can dream big and have people like Mavi [García], like us, that they can focus on,” Benito explained.
The Vuelta Femenina is Benito's first stage race of the road season. She has one victory in 2024, an off-road race in Spain, Gravel Tres Cantos by Specialized.
