Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) took the purple leader's jersey with a stage win on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas. Spanish champion Mavi Garcia now leads his closest rival by 12 seconds and heads into the summit finish of stage 4 on the 1,870-meter summit of Lagunas de Neira as one of the favorites to win the overall.

The time gap ahead of the final stage is larger in 2022 than the previous year, when 29 riders started stage 4 within 5 seconds of the overall lead. This year, only 31 riders are within a minute of the purple jersey.

Garcia is an excellent climber and wearing the leader's jersey will give her extra motivation. However, she had to miss the Ituria Women's and Durango-Durango last week

due to a Covid-19 infection.

She was fine in the first stage echelon and made the race in the third and final stage, but the climb, which lasts over 13 km, provides a test of a different nature.

Demi Vollaring (Team SD Works), who won all three stages and the GC in the Iturria women's race, was a big pre-race favorite to repeat last year's victory by then teammate and current sport director Anna van der Breggen. However, Vollaring crashed in the Durango-Durango one-day race and had to be hospitalized overnight for observation.

On stage 3, Vollaring struggled in the final, failing to climb Alto Retuerta at his best and eventually falling behind the pack, eventually finishing 49 seconds behind Garcia. Instead, Team SD Walks may look to young climbers Niamh Fischer-Black and Anna Shackley, both of whom trailed Garcia by only 22 seconds and know the climb of Lagunas de Neira from last year's race.

FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope remains one of the strongest teams in the race, despite Marta Cavalli's crash on stage 2. Evita Mujic is 12 seconds ahead of Garcia and will wear the white U23 jersey on Sunday; in 2021, the French champion finished nine seconds ahead of Fischer Black on the Lagunas de Neira climb and just four seconds ahead of the New Zealander in the overall.

However, the strongest contender for the French team would be Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig, who is currently in 15th place overall, 15 seconds behind. This Danish all-rounder excels on long climbs, and her podium finish in Durango Durango shows that she has fully recovered from her COVID-19 infection in April.

Team DSM's duo of Liane Lippert and Juliette Labusse also trailed Garcia by 15 seconds. Labouse is generally the stronger of the two on climbs, and on long climbs such as this one, two well-matched riders have the advantage.

Canyon-Slam had high hopes for Pauliena Loijackers, who finished fourth in Lagunas de Neira in 2021, but the Dutch climber was forced to abandon the race on the second stage. However, with Katarzyna Nieviadoma and Elise Chaby 15 seconds back and Soraya Paladin 35 seconds back, the teams are left with several options for the final stage.

Tatiana Ducuara (Tierra de Atletas, Colombia) lost her overnight race lead on stage 3, but Colombia remains in contention for a top GC finish. Duquara is 29 seconds ahead of Garcia, but she struggled on Alto Retuerta and probably will not be able to climb with the best group on Sunday. However, the Movistar team's Paula Patiño, with the full support of her team, is in great form: fourth overall in the Vuelta Andalucía and ninth in the Iturria women's race, Paula Patiño looks good on the long climb of Lagunas de Neira.

Team Bike Exchange-Jayco has Kristen Faulkner and Ane Santesteban, and EF Education-Chibuco-SVB has Krista Dobel Hickok and Veronica Eworth. All four are 15 seconds apart in GC, as is Trek-Segafredo's Shirin Van Unroy. The young Dutchwoman has a good record of summit finishes in 2021, and her background in cyclocross means that she knows how to ride long distances.

Finally, Hannah Nilsson (Ceratizit-WNT, 0:22), Spera Kern (Massi Tactic, 0:22), Alice Maria Alzufi (Valcar-Travel & Service, 0:35), Nadine Mikaela Gill (Sopela Women's Team, 0:35) are among those to watch in the final stage.