Vollering wins Tour de France Femmes stage as Reusser retains yellow jersey

PARIS: Dutch rider Demi Vollering outsprinted her closest rivals to win stage five of the Tour de France Femmes on Wednesday, while Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser retained the overall race lead after a demanding mountain stage.

Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) timed her effort perfectly on the uphill finish in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, overtaking Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), who had launched an early attack with around 300 metres remaining. Reusser crossed the line in second, with Niewiadoma-Phinney finishing third.

“I knew Kasia would go early because she always does,” Vollering said. “I knew Marlen would gamble, so I let her gamble a little, but in the end I gave everything in the sprint and needed every metre to reach the line first.”

The 140-kilometre stage from Macon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais featured eight categorised climbs and was expected to reshape the general classification.

Although the stage proved decisive in widening the gaps among the leading contenders, Reusser held onto the yellow jersey after her commanding individual time trial victory on Tuesday.

The Swiss rider leads the overall standings by 12 seconds over 2023 Tour champion Vollering, while defending champion Niewiadoma-Phinney climbed to third overall, 1 minute and 17 seconds off the pace.

With several mountainous stages still to come, the battle for the Tour de France Femmes title remains finely poised between the leading contenders.