Key events
Points classification: top 10 after stage five
1) Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) 131pts
2) Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) 68pts
3) Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) 65pts
4) Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly) 62pts
5) Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) 55pts
6) Marlen Reusser (Movistar) 52pts
7) Kim Le Court (AG Insurance–Soudal) 52pts
8) Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health) 42pts
9) Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike) 42pts
10) Dominika Wlodarcyzk (UAE Team L’Imad) 40pts
Queen of the Mountains classification: top 10 after stage five
1) Puck Pieterse (Fenix Premier-Tech) 37pts
2) Nikola Noskova (Cofidis) 14pts
3) Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) 11pts
4) Maeve Squiban (UAE Team L’Imad) 9pts
5) Oceané Mahe (Ma Petite Entreprise] 8pts
6) Anouska Koster (Uno-X Mobility) 7pts
7) Liane Lippert (Movistar) 7pts
8) Ema Comte (Cofidis) 6pts
9) Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) 5pts
10) Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) 5pts
A word for Puck Pieterse (Fenix Premier-Tech), who struck a massive blow in the race for the QOM competition today. She grabbed 19pts on the day, and now has 37pts total, a lead of 23 from Noskova in second place.
“Today was a really cool race,” says stage winner Vollering. And what a performance it was by her and the team, by the way.
“The whole team, every single rider, was part of it. And I enjoy those victories the most. When everyone puts hard work in, it’s even more special and beautiful.
“The way I managed to win that sprint: I thought I was not going to make it, but I made it … it was really relief after the finish line.
“I knew Kasia would go early, because she always does … I was just like, I have to try. Maybe Marlen will come over me, but at least I tried … it was a very long sprint, I needed every single metre on that final straight, but I managed to do it, and I’m very happy about that.
“For Marlen, it looks very bright now … I won already the Tour, Kasia as well: Marlen hasn’t won it yet, and she will have to work for it. It will be a hard battle. She is very strong, she is not easy to beat, but of course I will try to do that.”
“It wasn’t the plan to go that early, but it was a good situation,” says Antonia Niedermaier on TNT Sports of the considerable impact she made on today’s stage.
“It was super-hard on the final climb … I was not surprised they [the chasing Vollering group] were coming with high speed.
“I tried to jump on the train and fight for position for Kasia. Kasia is in shape: super, super strong, so I think all-in for her, but it’s always nice to have cards to play.”
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is now 5min down in the general classification. It’s going to take a miracle for her to fight her way back into it …
“When we make a plan, 100% of the time, Demi can finish it off,” says Juliette Berthet of FDJ United-Suez. “A really hard day … if we were going to be in the break, we wanted to be the first in GC, otherwise we don’t ride … so we stayed in the wheels, which was not so easy … the plan was for Demi to go on the second-last climb.”
Misson accomplished. An impressive ride, individually and collectively. Vollering looks ridiculously strong – is anyone going to be able to isolate her in one of the remaining four stages? Can Reusser hope to defend her 12sec lead?
General classification: Top 10 after stage five
1) Reusser (Movistar) 15hr 41min 18sec
2) Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) +12sec
3) Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) +1min 17sec
4) Niedermaier (Canyon/SRAM) +2min 40sec
5) Wlodarczyk (UAE L’Imad) +2min 54sec
6) Longo Borghini (UAE L’Imad) +2min 58sec
7) Holmgren (Lidl Trek) +3min 05sec
8) De Vries (Visma-Lease A Bike) +3min 11sec
9) Kerbaol (EF Education Oatly) +3min 41sec
10) Blaisi Cairol (UAE L’Imad) +3min 51sec
Reusser now leads GC by 12sec from Vollering. Niewiadoma is third, 1min 17sec down.
Top 10 on stage five
1) Vollering 3hr 53min 44sec
2) Reusser (same time)
3) Niewiadoma (s/t)
4) Wlodarczyk +45sec
5) Holmgren +45sec
6) Niedermaier +45sec
7) Vinke +1min 12sec
8) De Vries +1min 12sec
9) De Jong +1min 12sec
10) Fisher-Black +1min 18sec
That was a brave effort by Niewiadoma: she correctly didn’t fancy it in a short sprint against Vollering, so decided to go early. It nearly paid off. It really looked like she had a decisive gap with 300m to go, but Vollering’s speed and power was eventually too much. Reusser second, Niewiadoma third.
Vollering’s celebration was class, raising both fists to the sky and roaring. She enjoyed that one.
Demi Vollering wins stage five!
What a finish! Niewiadoma went early, into the final corner, and seemed to have built a decisive gap: but Vollering had too much and accelerated past her Polish rival.
500km to go: Reusser leading it out, she slows up significantly, and here goes Niewiadoma!
1.5km to go: Money on Vollering in this three-up sprint? Or will someone try to go very early …
2km to go: Niewiadoma is destined for top-three place in GC. Kerbaol, currently third, will drop back along with Haugset in fourth and much of the rest of the top 10.
3km to go: The chase group, including Pieterse in polka-dots, is 1min 25sec down.
4.5km to go: So these three riders at the front now find themselves in temporary alliance: riding hard and co-operating to put more time into the rest of the bunch, but also hoping for the glory of a stage win. Of course, for riders of this calibre, the GC is the main concern.
5km to go: Nearly 3min down for the French reigning champion, Ferrand-Prévot, now. And French fans will be distraught.
8km to go: So Vollering, Reusser and Niewiadoma power on up front. We expected a GC shake-up, and we’re certainly going to get one. Reusser looks like she’s calling for a bottle, but it doesn’t look like anyone can help: from 11km to go it prohibited for any feeding, or bottles to be given out.
8.5km to go: Ferrand-Prevot and Van der Breggen are over the top of the climb now. The reigning champion is going to lose another two minutes or so, at this rate.
10.5km to go: Niewiadoma, Vollering and Reusser over the top of the climb and now flying down the descent. This is where the true bravery comes in for these remarkable athletes …
10.5km to go: Niewiadoma comes over the top! Vollering manages to stay with her. Reusser continues to mark both.
11km to go: Vollering goes again with 500m to go! She’s trying her best to gap her rivals. Niewiadoma is able to follow, and Reusser gets on the wheels too.
11km to go: Vollering has put in a lot of effort but hasn’t managed to distance her companions. Reusser looks really strong, and fully focused on defending her yellow jersey, having already taken a maximum of six bonus seconds back down the road.
12km to go: The leaders are on the final climb. Weirdly, the QOM result is already on the official site: but that is a clerical error, they’ve mistakenly put the bonus point result in there (Reusser/Vollering/Wlodarczyk).
Anyway, Vollering has taken control and upped the pace with more than a kilometre remaining.
It’s a select group of eight out in front.
14km to go: It’s 1min 23sec for the Ferrand-Prévot group.
Reusser takes six bonus seconds at Saint-Lager with a smart and late attack: Vollering follows and takes four. Wlodarczyk (UAE Team L’IMAD) gets third place and takes two Brucey Bonus seconds.
16km to go: The bonification point is fast approaching, at Saint-Lager (insert childish alcohol-related joke here).
20km to go: Up front: Reusser, Vollering, Niewiadoma, Niedermaier, De Vries, Wlodarczyk, Holmgren, Vinke, Berthet, De Jong, Fisher-Black, Pieterse, Ghekiere, Spratt, Vallieres Mill, Korevaar, Lippert, Koch, Le Mouël.
22km to go: So now it’s business time … the Vollering, Reusser group has caught the escapees. It’s a group of 19 up front: Niewiadoma is in there.
The Ferrand-Prevot group is a minute down and it’s almost impossible to see them coming back.
24km to go: Earlier, Dominic mentioned Kim Le Court’s pre-stage interview, which was notable.
“For me I think it’s the hardest stage of the whole tour, harder than Ventoux [on Friday],” Le Court said after reflecting on a poor day in the ITT.
“You have to be focused from KM0, it will be small roads, and very technical.”
24.5km to go: Van Dam, Van der Breggen and Kerbaol are with Ferrand-Prevot, chasing to get back on. What we are seeing is the attritional effect of the time trial, followed closely by this full-on stage.
26km to go: Now a long, sweeping descent for the front group. The leaders have half a minute. Further down the road, Ferrand-Prevot has been dropped, and is 1min 20sec behind the front of the race. The opposite of what she was hoping for after losing time yesterday in the ITT.
30km to go: A moto clips Noemi Rüegg by the KOM point and she hits the tarmac. Disaster for the Swiss rider. Ordinarily you would blame the moto rider, but Rüegg did veer left into the path of the bike as she looked back down the road.
30km to go: Hundreds of fans line the Col de Durbize. Fisher-Black leads the front of the race through the QOM point at the top. The gap is down to 38sec.
30km to go: The gap has plunged to under a minute. Celia Gery, the French national champion, is setting a fearsome pace and smashing it all up.
32km to go: Back in the chase group, FDJ United-Suez are putting the hammer down.
Squiban’s earlier attack has been neutralised by the front group. The gap between the yellow jersey group and the break is 1min 10sec.
33km to go: According to Wiki, Squiban’s nickname is “Squibbers”, which is nice.
She was born in Brest, Brittany, so the Breton fans will be shouting at their tellies right now.
34km to go: Squiban attacks from the break! She won stages six and seven last year and is hungry for more.
35km to go: The gap is holding at 1min 21sec. What do you think of all this? Email me.
40km to go: The start of the Col de Durbize is imminent. The gap between break and chase group has fallen: it’s 1min 22sec now.
FDJ-United Suez are doing a lot of hard work to close this gap for Demi Vollering. EF Education-Oatly are also prominent. Reusser, in yellow, is fifth or sixth wheel, clearly working on the basis that the safest place is near the front.
41km to go: Lidl-Trek have three riders in the break: Spratt, Markus and Fisher-Black. Movistar, riding for the yellow jersey Reusser, have Liane Lippert in the move. She’s 18min 58sec down on GC, but could be a card to play for the stage win.
44km to go: The Col de Durbize (category three) and Mont Brouilly (category two) are still to come. The latter is shorter at 3km to 3.6km, but the gradient is more punishing, at an average of 7.7% to 5.8% for the Col de Durbize.
The riders will enjoy their dinner tonight after such a draining day.
45km to go: Is it panic stations back in the chasing group? I expect it’s nervous at the very least. The gap is 1min 50sec. Of course, the stronger climbers such as Ferrand-Prévot will be confident of closing the gap on the remaining climbs, but this could be really exciting in terms of GC v breakaway.
48km to go: Niedermaier is only 23, but has a Giro stage win (2023) and a young rider classification too (2025). She is an accomplished ski mountaineer as well as a cyclist.
50km to go: Niedermaier, of Canyon/SRAM, is the virtual maillot jaune. She’s 1min 43sec down in GC, and 1min 53sec ahead of the chasers.
51km to go: There are 53 riders are in the chasing group, second on the road. Reusser, Vollering, Kerbaol, Haugset, Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma, Van der Breggen, and defending champion Ferrand-Prévot are all there.
55km to go: As Spinal Tap’s manager once observed, the band’s popularity is not waning, it’s just that their appeal is becoming more selective.
What does that have to do with stage five? Nothing, apart from the word “selective.”
There are sure to be some big losers on GC at this rate, with the race breaking up.
56km to go: Riders in break: Niedermaier, De Vries, Wlodarczyk, Vinke, Berthet, Ruegg, De Jong, Fisher-Black, Pieterse, Markus, Ghekiere, Squiban, Spratt, Vallieres Mill, Van Dam, Lippert, Koch, De Schepper, Le Mouël.
