Demi Vollering destroys rivals to win La Vuelta Femenina Stage 5 after epic mountain stage

Demi Vollering has won stage 5 of La Vuelta Femenina in a stage where all the favourites battled it out for the victory. Vollering played her tactical cards superbly well, and attacked at precisely the right moment on a savage final climb.

Before the start of the race, there was drama. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, who won Paris-Roubaix so spectacularly just last month, abandoned the race before the start after suffering during yesterday’s stage. Joining her in abandoning the grand tour, was Audrey de Keersmaeker and Spela Kern.

It was another wet day in the peloton, with plenty of danger coming from the slippery road surfaces. With 79km to go, we finally saw a breakaway established, with Maike van der Duin, Julia Borgstrom, Arianna Fidanza and Lea Lin Teutenberg escaping up the road. Fast forward 40km later, and the breakaways gap was hovering around the 2 minute mark.

Unfortunately, with 38km to go we had another abandonment, as Esmee Gielkens went down hard and crashed, causing what looked to be a head injury. As the peloton reached the first categorised climb of the day, FDJ – Suez put down the hammer and the breakaway’s gap vanished.

And then, with 24km to go, the red jersey of Femke Gerritse also went down in the crash. Whilst she was able to jump back on her bike, her lead in the GC evaporated before her eyes.

By the end of the climb, we had a lethal looking group of favourites. Amongst the front group of 14, was Demi Vollering, Anna van der Breggen, Niamh Fisher-Black, Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Juliette Labous. Impressively, there was an incredible 10 different teams represented at the front.

The riders then took on the descent towards the bottom of the final climb, taking extra care where the roads were still slippery. Then came the real test, the Lagunas de Neila, in Quintanar de la Sierra. A category 1 climb, the riders would have to take on 6.5km at an average of 9.1%.

Before the riders hit the foot of the climb, Mischa Bredewold accelerated after a conversation with Anna van der Breggen. Could she work as a satellite rider for her team leader?

Bredewold attacked not once, but twice. Knowing she couldn't let Team SD Worx - Protime play this tactical card, Demi Vollering looked around for teammates of her own to send up the road.

But there was still one rider further up the road, and that was Mareille Meijering. At 7.4km, she was 30 seconds ahead of Bredewold and 51 seconds ahead of the main group.

As the riders hit the steep sections of the climb, Mischa Bredewold was caught by the chasing group of favourites. At the same time, Meijering's gap came down to 30 seconds, highlighting the savage pace the FDJ - Suez team was laying down.

The first of the favourites to attack was Juliette Labous, and Anna van der Breggen was forced to accelerate herself. Mareille Meijering was quickly caught, and then suddenly the Tour de France Femmes winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma was dropped too.

Anna van der Breggen hit the front, and the legendary rider was showing some superb legs. The group of favourites was now down to just 6, Vollering, Van der Breggen, Fisher-Black, Kerbaol, Rooijakkers, and Reusser. With just under 3km to go, Vollering then made her move, and van der Breggen couldn't immediately respond, and it was Marlen Reusser who took the wheel.

Very quickly, however, Vollering had some daylight and her gap continued to grow. And, with 2km left, the gap was around 20 seconds. In the end, there was no stopping Demi Vollering, who took the victory and with it the leaders jersey, in what was one of the most impressive performances of her illustrious career to date.