La Vuelta Femenina's two top GC contenders, Gaia Lealini and Kasia Niewiadoma, retired before stage 6 due to crash injuries and prolonged illness, respectively.

Lealini (Lidl-Trek), who is competing in the Vuelta Femenina, is one of the team's co-leaders along with Elisa Longo Borghini, who took a stage win and third place overall in 2023.

The diminutive climber was protected in the opening TTT by Lizzie Deignan and was the first to cross the line as Lidl-Trek won the stage and the red leader's jersey for the day. However, Lealini lost two minutes in the echelon on stage 4, and a crash on stage 5 forced him to abandon the race.

Niwiadoma struggled on the final climb of stage 5, and Canyon-Slam abandoned the race to continue after he fell ill and did not return to 100% health after his great performance in the Ardennes Classic.

"Cassia Niewiadoma will not start the sixth stage of La Vuelta Femenina. The medical team has decided that it is best for Cassia, who has been battling a small illness since the Ardennes Classic, to stop the race early and allow her to fully recover," the team posted on its social media.

Reallini crashed on stage 5 on the fast descent of the Alto del Monasterio de San Juan de la Peña with 28km to go. Her teammate Brody Chapman returned to assist the 22-year-old Italian. She started to walk toward her bike, but again leaned against a cliff on the side of the road and sat down for a while.

The race doctor's car and a team car pulled up to the scene, so Realini got her spare bike and continued racing. Judging from the television footage, no concussion checks were performed for approximately 40 seconds between when Realini stood up and when he got back on the bike.

Before tackling the finishing climb, Realini piloted Chapman down the remaining descent, finishing 7:03 behind stage winner and new red jersey winner Demi Volering (SD Works-Protime), and immediately after the stage finish, the team doctor He was checked by the team doctor immediately after the stage finish.

On the morning of stage 6, Lidle-Trek announced that Leleini would not start the stage and would go to the hospital because he suffered a mild concussion and pain in his chest and right elbow.

Ellen van Dijk was also injured in a TTT crash on stage 1, leaving Lidle Trek with only five of the seven women on the team to finish the race.

Longo Borghini now leads the U.S. team's GC ambitions, entering the final three stages 28 seconds ahead of Vollering.