Vollering beats Reusser and Niewiadoma as Ferrand-Prévot cracks under Tour de France pressure

Demi Vollering won stage five of the Tour de France Femmes after a magnificent day of racing in which the general classification contenders went head-to-head on the final two climbs. The stage ended in a three-rider sprint between three women who could also find themselves on the final podium in Nice. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma | Lease a Bike was comprehensively dropped by tactics her own team regularly used during its dominant years.

Marlen Reusser had already taken a major step forward in the time trial to Dijon. The Swiss Movistar rider won the race against the clock and took the yellow jersey from Sigrid Haugset of Uno-X Mobility, who had been able to enjoy the lead for only one day. Vollering also produced an excellent ride for FDJ-SUEZ, moving into a strong second place in the general classification.

Ferrand-Prévot had a much more difficult day. The defending champion lost more than two minutes to Reusser and saw the gap in the overall standings grow considerably. However, stage five of the Tour de France Femmes featured eight climbs and offered more than enough terrain on which to respond. Would the race explode after the time trial?

The race started at 2pm and almost immediately developed into a brutal elimination race. The climbs arrived in rapid succession on the hilly route between Mâcon and Belleville-en-Beaujolais, while temperatures once again rose above 30 degrees Celsius. Several riders were dropped early, including many of the sprinters, but notably not Lorena Wiebes.

Vollering did not emerge from the opening phase completely unscathed either. The FDJ-SUEZ leader briefly had to put a foot down, but the Dutchwoman returned to the peloton without any visible difficulties. Once Vollering was back near the front, Niamh Fisher-Black of Lidl-Trek became the first rider to create a serious gap on a descent.

Carlotta Cipressi also spent some time alone ahead of the peloton, allowing the Italian to take maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Monsols. Wiebes had clearly marked that sprint as a target and impressively crossed the line second from the peloton despite all the climbing. Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Premier Tech was chasing a different prize: points for the mountains classification. She was first over all six climbs in the opening part of the stage.

After the sixth of the stage’s eight climbs, which topped out almost 65 kilometres from the finish, Pieterse was also part of a group that escaped from the peloton. Antonia Niedermaier of CANYON//SRAM, Femke de Vries of Visma | Lease a Bike and Dominika Włodarczyk of UAE Team ADQ were the most dangerous riders in general classification terms, with all three starting the day within two minutes of race leader Reusser.

Movistar did not have enough riders available to organise the chase, so FDJ-SUEZ took responsibility when the 19-rider breakaway’s advantage increased to two minutes. The gap remained stable for a long time, but the pace rose on the approach to the penultimate climb, the Col de Durbize. By the foot of the ascent, the advantage had been reduced to around a minute and a half.

FDJ-SUEZ had not been working without a plan, even though the team still had two riders in the front group. Vollering attacked on the Col de Durbize, and only Reusser, Kasia Niewiadoma of CANYON//SRAM and Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ could initially respond. Ferrand-Prévot was unable to follow — and she did not lose contact by a small margin. By the summit, the Frenchwoman was already more than 30 seconds behind.

The main problem for Ferrand-Prévot was not simply that she had been dropped. It was the coordinated team racing of FDJ-SUEZ and Movistar, who executed their plan in a manner reminiscent of Visma | Lease a Bike in its most dominant years. Vollering had Franziska Koch and Juliette Berthet in the breakaway, while Reusser had Liane Lippert up front. Those teammates helped significantly increase the gap to Ferrand-Prévot on the approach to the final climb.

Vollering, Reusser and Niewiadoma watched the remaining members of the breakaway disappear one by one. It was notable, however, that De Vries was allowed to remain in the front group for Visma | Lease a Bike rather than dropping back to help Ferrand-Prévot. The leaders then reached Mont Brouilly, a three-kilometre climb averaging 7.7 per cent. Once Berthet had completed her final turn, Vollering took control and produced another powerful acceleration.

Vollering’s effort inside the final 500 metres of the climb was particularly impressive, but neither Reusser nor Niewiadoma gave way. The Polish rider even had the confidence to accelerate herself, but she could not dislodge the yellow jersey. The three riders crossed the summit together with a little more than ten kilometres remaining. Ferrand-Prévot was already close to three minutes behind, while the leading trio initially continued to cooperate smoothly.

During the closing kilometres, Ferrand-Prévot reduced the gap by around 15 seconds, suggesting that the three leaders were no longer riding flat out. A stage victory was also at stake, and the finale was developing into a three-rider sprint. All three continued to contribute, but it was Niewiadoma who made the decisive-looking move with a brilliant acceleration inside the final kilometre.

For a moment, it appeared the Polish rider might hold on for the victory. Her effort had begun slightly too early, however, and Vollering produced an extraordinarily long sprint to overhaul her before the line. Reusser also passed Niewiadoma to finish second, collecting six bonus seconds. The Swiss Movistar rider therefore remains in yellow, ten seconds ahead of Vollering, while Niewiadoma moves into third place in the general classification.