Kim Le Court edges Demi Vollering in photo finish finale on stage 5 of 2025 Tour de France Femmes

Kim Le Cort has held off Demi Vollering and has sprinted to victory on stage 5 of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, after an elite 7-woman group decided the day, following late GC action on the final climb.

With five riders getting themselves into the breakaway, there were some notable threats fort he peloton to chase on stage 5. In total, the lead group included former Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ), Francesca Barale (Team Picnic PostNL), Chilean national champion Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi) and Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels Cycling Team).

As some crashes rocked the peloton, Lorena Wiebes was brought down in one but able to carry on. Notable names such as Kristen Faulkner, Elisa Balsamo and Monica Trinca Colonel were all among a number of riders forced to abandon though.

By 30km to go, the break was down to just three as Soto and Dijkstra dropped away. The gap to the peloton meanwhile, was down to around a minute and a half. Chapman proved to be the last woman standing of the breakaway, and heading into the final 15km, she had been joined by a counter-attacking group of 4 that included Shirin van Anrooij and Silke Smulders. Just inside the final 10km though, the attackers were all caught on the final climb of the day.

On the climb, the big GC contenders came to the fore, with a move from Demi Vollering really splitting things at the front, drawing Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Sarah Gigante, Pauliena Rooijakkers, Anna van der Breggen, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Kim Le Court clear with her.

On the descent to the finish line, the lead group realised they had the stage win to decide between them, and in the fight for the line, it was down to a 7-woman battle. In the sprint, the win went to Kim Le Court in a photo finish ahead of Demi Vollering.