Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes concludes with Kim Le Court-Pienaar securing the victory in a tight photo-finish sprint against Demi Vollering, reclaiming the coveted yellow jersey.
Kim Le Court-Pienaar of AG Insurance-Soudal has secured a thrilling victory in Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes, reclaiming the yellow jersey as the new General Classification (GC) leader. The race, marked by a breakaway and a series of strategic moves, saw Le Court-Pienaar outperform Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen in a sprint finish.
The stage, which took place in Guéret, was marred by crashes in the first two hours, causing eight riders to abandon. Despite this, the race continued with intense competition. A breakaway of five riders was formed, consisting of Francesca Barale (Picnic PostNL), Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Catalina Soto (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), and Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ).
However, Dijkstra and Soto were dropped from the break, and the peloton reduced the gap to under a minute ahead of the Côte du Peyroux. It was at this point that Chapman made her move, attacking and dropping Jackson and Barale. The peloton, led by Movistar, worked hard to reduce the gap, managing to bring it down to 1:47 minutes at the intermediate sprint with 39km to go.
Meanwhile, Sarah Gigante, a teammate of Le Court-Pienaar, contributed significantly to the group staying ahead during the stage. Gigante dropped from the front group on the descent, but managed to make it back to the front before the 3km mark.
As the race approached the finish line, a front group of seven riders emerged on the climb, consisting of Sarah Gigante, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Le Court-Pienaar, Vollering, van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck).
In a nail-biting finish, Le Court-Pienaar took the bonus sprint during the stage, setting herself up for a successful sprint among the favorites. She crossed the line first, securing her victory and the yellow jersey. Vollering and van der Breggen finished second and third, respectively.
With this victory, Le Court-Pienaar now leads the overall classification by 18 seconds over Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and by 23 seconds over Vollering as the race heads into stage 6. Marianne Vos, who previously held the yellow jersey, finished 33 seconds behind in a second group and dropped down to eighth overall in the GC.
The top 5 in the general classification after stage 5 are:
| Position | Rider | Team | Time gap | |----------|------------------------|-----------------------|--------------| | 1 | Kim Le Court-Pienaar | AG Insurance-Soudal | Leader | | 2 | Pauline Ferrand-Prévot | Visma-Lease a Bike | + 18 seconds | | 3 | Demi Vollering | FDJ-Suez | + 23 seconds | | 4 | Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney| Canyon/SRAM/Zondacrypto | + 24 seconds | | 5 | Anna van der Breggen | SD Worx-Protime | + 27 seconds |
This reshuffle sets up an exciting battle going into the mountain stages of the race.
[1] Tour de France Femmes - Stage 5 results
[2] Tour de France Femmes - Stage 5 report
[5] Cycling Weekly - Tour de France Femmes stage 5 report
On the same day, the tension in the Tour de France Femmes was evident as various sports teams demonstrated excellent teamwork and individual prowess. Despite several crashes, sports enthusiasts watched with bated breath as the top riders, including Kim Le Court-Pienaar, competed fiercely throughout Stage 5.
