Demi Vollering of the Netherlands secured a win on the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes, narrowly edging out race leader Marlen Reusser in a sprint finish. The duo, representing FDJ United-Suez and Movistar respectively, managed to hold off an early challenge from Polish cyclist Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon-Sram to reach the finish line first.
The trio established their lead approximately 10km from the finish during the ascent of the category two Mont Brouilly climb, which featured gradients reaching 14%. The 140km route connected Macon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. Despite her second-place finish, Switzerland’s Reusser continues to hold the yellow jersey, maintaining a 12-second advantage over Vollering in the general classification, while Niewiadoma remains in third place.
Vollering attributed the success to a strong collective team effort. Meanwhile, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot faced a challenging day, conceding more than two and a half minutes to her rivals and slipping to 17th place overall. Anna van der Breggan also saw her hopes for the yellow jersey fade after losing significant time during the same stage.