Demi Vollering won stage five of the Tour de France Femmes on Wednesday, sprinting past yellow jersey holder Marlen Reusser at the end of a 140km stage from Macon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
The FDJ United-Suez rider hit the front in the closing metres and held off the Movistar rider, after the pair had swept past Kasia Niewiadoma, whose long-range launch had looked set to deliver the stage for Canyon-Sram. The three riders pulled clear of the peloton with around 10km remaining on the category-two Mont Brouilly climb, where the road pitches up to 14% in places, and settled the stage among themselves in the Beaujolais hills near Lyon.
Vollering, who won the race overall in 2023, timed her sprint to perfection on the long finishing straight. "Today it was really cool race," she said. "The whole team, every single rider was part of it. I enjoy those victories the most, when everybody put their hard work into it, it makes it more special and beautiful. I gave it everything to the line. It was a very long sprint and I needed every single metre in the finish straight, but I managed to do it - I am very happy about that."
