What a bizarre turn of events in the Tour! Big fall ruled out yellow Vollering, Blanka Vas wins chaotic stage

Kata Blanka Vas has won the fifth stage of the Tour de France. The SD Worx rider was the best after a chaotic, challenging stage through the Belgian and northern French hills. Katarzyna Niewiadoma was second, and Kristen Faulkner was third in the sprint of a small group. That was due to an unpleasant fall in the final stage, which caused Demi Vollering to lose the yellow jersey.

There are no real mountains so far, but there are a lot of differences in the GC in the Tour de France. The reason, of course, was Wednesday's challenging Ardennes stage. Thursday, however, was more of the same: hills, tricky passages, and lots of altimeters. Again, fuel for chaos or a day for the breakaway riders?

Pieterse shows in polka dot jersey, Van Empel and Adegeest on an adventure

It didn't look like that at all. At first, no group managed to get away, but after a few dozen kilometers, there was a reasonable effort made by some lesser-known names. Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Elena Pirrone (Roland Cycling), and Wilma Aintila (Lotto-Dstny) took off and quickly established a gap. However, their forces did not seem strong enough, given the interests of the big teams in the peloton.

That became apparent moments later as the peloton hit back. On the hills that were categorized, Puck Pieterse gathered a few points; Loes Adegeest tried to ride away as she did at the beginning of the stage and, after catching up with the above trio, succeeded better this time. Julie Van De Velde (AG Insurance) and Fem van Empel joined Adegeest. The trio pushed on to a one-minute lead. At this stage, Charlotte Kool had already been detached from the peloton for a long time. She returned, but it was too hard for the green jersey.

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The final stage brings the peloton to life; Balsamo, Wiebes, and Vos survive the battle

The tough finale was started by the trio at the front, with a still nice lead of two minutes after initially being just under a minute larger. The lead slowly dwindled by becoming SD Worx, ahead of Lorena Wiebes, who had also scored many points at the intermediate sprint. She, of course, was still winless and seemed eager to try.

On the final categorized climb, the gap diminished to forty seconds. No Vos, Elisa Balsamo, nor Wiebes at the front of the peloton, but Pieterse again! She pulled through on the sloping sections. Because of the Amersfoortse's execution work, a maximum of 25 ladies were left. The brave escape attempt by Van Empel and Adegeest ended in beauty. Vos maintained herself at the front, but what did Wiebes do?

Vollering full in pursuit after nasty fall in closing stages

Balsamo and the Dutch sprint star survived the battle and remained at the front. Then, six kilometers from the finish, a dramatic moment in the peloton occurred: a big fall eliminated a significant part of the elite group for the stage win. Demi Vollering had to chase fiercely. A small group would battle for the stage win in the uphill stretch. The Dutch rider's yellow jersey was in danger.

In the final kilometer, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who had stayed ahead of the fall, went full throttle. Kristen Faulkner was also riding at the front, and Kata Blanka Vas and Liane Lippert were also riding. It became a sprint between the final four. The Hungarian timed best and proved to be the smartest in the sprint. Niewiadoma finished second and took yellow. Vollering came in at a minute and 46 seconds and lost the lead to the Pole.

Results stage 5 Tour de France Femmes 2024

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