Results Giro d'Italia Women 2026 stage 5 - Demi Vollering wins chaotic queen stage but Anna van der Breggen stays firm in the pink jersey

Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia Women was a full-on day of racing with plenty climbing in the Dolomites and a GC race that exploded very far from the finish. Demi Vollering attempted to distance Anna van der Breggen on multiple occasions but was not able to; but in Sante Stefano di Cadore, the European Champion sprinted to victory.

The stage had a mostly flat start however with the slight climbing into the Passo Tre Croci, a group of over 20 riders managed to split away from the peloton, creating a looming threat. It was a strong group that featured several strong climbers and members from most top teams, which made the race quite fast and tense.

The GC group would blow up on the Passo di Sant'Antonio with around 60 kilometers to go, as on the hardest climb of the day Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering attacked the lead of the pink jersey Anna van der Breggen. The SD Worx rider was fully tested but responded strongly. The GC group would split fully still behind the entire breakaway however, and so it created a difficult situation for a few riders.

Away from the climb the group would not collaborate, and that gave Monica Trinca Colonel the opportunity to escape the group and ride away. Laura Dickson from the break dropped back and paced for Demi Vollering, which once again exploded the GC group into a selection of only the very best.

Colonel and a few breakaway survivors had been caught, with Elisa Longo Borghini and Marlen Reusser struggling to follow the best. Reusser was cast away from the fight for victory on the climbs that followed and on the final one Vollering would go on the attack again.

This would create a group of four riders, as she was followed by Anna van der Breggen, Antonio Niedermaiers and Isabella Holmgren. The gaps behind were not big despite this being the queen stage, and the quartet would collaborate into the the final kilometers. Whilst there were attempts to avoid a sprint, all riders covered each other; and in the dash to the line it was Vollering who took the win.

Van der Breggen sprinted to second and defended her race lead whilst Niedermaier rode to third. Longo Borghini finished 15 seconds behind whilst Reusser lost 53 on the day.