With Misha Bredewald's second consecutive stage win, SD Volks Pro Time has won all eight stages of the Ituriá women's race three times since 2022.

The Dutch superteam is in the driver's seat for the final stage of the 2024 edition, sending four riders to the top of the overall standings, while other teams are eager to take the Txapela, the traditional Basque trophy of victory.

Bredewald has a 14-second lead over Juliette Labouse (DSM-Filmenig Post NL) and a 15-second lead over Mavi Garcia (Rib Alura Jayco). Elise Chaby (Canyon-SRAM) is 18 seconds back in fourth place overall, followed by SD Works-Protime's Demi Vollering at 19 seconds.

The Dutch team also has Swiss champion Marlen Reusser in eighth place, 27 seconds back, and Niamh Fischer-Black is one of 25 riders 29 seconds back. Liv-Alura-Jeiko is 29 seconds behind Garcia, with Caroline Andersson, Ella Willey, and Urschka Ziegert also 29 seconds back.

In contrast, Lavousse has no teammates in good position, but on the other hand, her team does not have to weigh its options and can fully support the Frenchwoman. The Movistar team supports Olivia Baril in sixth place with 21 seconds and Arlenis Sierra in seventh place with 23 seconds.

Evita Mujic of FDJ-SUEZ is 9th overall with 28 seconds and Léa Culinier 29 seconds. Lidl-Trek still has three riders, Shirin Van Unrooy, Amanda Spratt, and Isabella Holmgren, but like Rabolu Kutza-Fundacion Euskadi with Ane Santesteban, Yulani Blanco, and Usoa Ostrasa, who are aiming for the overall win If you want to win the overall, you have no choice but to go on the attack.

The final stage includes three climbs and several unsettled sections, with the first half of the 114.9 km stage mostly ups and downs and the second half flat, but with the day's toughest climb.

The famous Jaizkibel climb at the 42.6km mark is classified as a Class 1 climb. For Valentina Cavallar (Arkea B&B Hotels), it is an important climb for winning the polka-dot jersey: if she can finish first on the climb of the Jaizkibel and the third category climb of the Grütze, the mountain prize will be out of reach and the stage for the QOM jersey Finishing the stage would be necessary, but this is easier said than done.

After Grze, an intermediate sprint at the Donostia finish line at 75.5km will provide valuable bonus seconds before the race closes in on the Mendizoloz climb. gradient of 11.3% and a maximum gradient of 19%, making for a fairly steep climb.

Once up this wall, known as the Murguil Tontola in the San Sebastián mountains, the remaining 2.3 km will be easier but offer a chance to widen the gap opened by the steep gradient. From the top of the climb to the finish in Donostia is 28.5 km, most of which is mostly flat.

As in the previous two stages, the fallen riders will have plenty of time to rejoin the lead pack. However, a lot depends on how many riders are left and which ones remain after the climb: the smaller the group, the more likely there is a shared commitment to continue the breakaway; conversely, a larger group is more likely to fall victim to indecision and internal conflict.

On balance, however, it seems unlikely that Bredewald will again win a stage in order to match Vollering's 2022 record. Instead, the final stage will probably come down to the strongest climbers and punchers, including Vollering, Labouse, Garcia, Chaby, and van Unrooy.