Results Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 5 - Vollering wins CHAOTIC day, drops Ferrand-Prévot but sees Reusser keep yellow jersey

Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes blew up the race fully. From a 20-rider breakaway that featured many dangerous GC riders, to all-out attacks from far away, and massive gaps at the finish line. Demi Vollering took the stage win on a day with massive time gaps and a thrilling final sprint against Marlen Reusser and Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

Whereas stage 4 was a day for those who thrived in the time trials, today was one for the climbers. Big differences could be created in different days but with the same protagonists. With a lot of climbing right from the start out of Mâcon, the fight to get in the day's breakaway was very long and difficult.

The reasons were obvious: Lots of climbs at first and then a second half of the day with two more ascents that were not long. This meant that a successful breakaway could lead to GC success whilst all teams had reason to place riders in the front group.

The breakaway of 20 riders included a lot of riders that formed a dangerous group. Marlen Reusser had one teammate; Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot had two... However all of them were under pressure from a different set of rivals that were raiding the overall classification. Antonia Niedermaier, Niamh Fisher-Black, Dominika Wlodarczyk and Niemke Vinke were part of the group (as well as Visma's Femke de Vries), all riders within a short range of the yellow jersey.

Aside from them there was a lot of quality present such as Noemi Rüegg, Puck Pieterse, Riejanne Markus and Maeva Squiban. Behind, Movistar and FDJ worked together to keep the groups within range and not spiral out of control.

On the penultimate climb of the day with 33 kilometers to go, FDJ entered the climb behind at full speed. Évita Muzic and Célia Gery delivered a brutal leadout for Demi Vollering on the climb, and in the final kilometer the gradients reached above 15% where the Dutchwoman made the difference.

In front the group split, but from the peloton it was Vollering out front, joined by Niewiadoma, yellow jersey Marlen Reusser and Isabella Holmgren. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was dropped together with Anna van der Breggen and Cédrine Kerbaol; whilst between the groups were Paula Blasi, Elisa Longo Borghini and Kim Le Court.

But in the valley, the gaps extended dramatically, because both Movistar and FDJ had riders in front to keep the pace high - whilst behind, UAE and Visma did also have domestiques to support their leaders.

On the climb to Mont Brouilly, the final one of the day, Vollering went on the attack once again but was unable to drop the yellow jersey. Niewiadoma, winner of the 2024 edition, also pushed the pace on the ascent and the three riders went clear from the rest. The gaps behind extended into minutes as the three collaborated towards the finish

Niewiadoma launched an early sprint out of the final corner and met no response. The victory for the Polish rider looked certain but Demi Vollering set off in pursuit. The European Champion managed to close the gap and sprint to victory at the end of the day, taking a few bonifications on Marlen Reusser who was second at the finish line.