Vollering wins stage 5 as Reusser takes Tour de France Femmes lead

Demi Vollering won stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, taking the hilly 140km run from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais ahead of Marlen Reusser and Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney.

The shape of the result says plenty about how the stage was decided. This was not a summit finish, but the hilly profile still created real separation. Vollering, Reusser, and Niewiadoma-Phinney reached the finish on the same time, which suggests the decisive selection had already been made before the line, with the stage coming down to execution from a reduced front group rather than a large sprint.

A hilly stage that still mattered for GC

Behind the top three, the gaps opened quickly. Dominika Włodarczyk finished fourth at 20 seconds, while Isabella Holmgren and Antonia Niedermaier came in at 45 seconds. The next group, led by Nienke Vinke, lost 1 minute 12 seconds, with Niamh Fisher-Black tenth at 1 minute 15 seconds.

That pattern matters because a non-summit hilly stage can sometimes look manageable on paper, but the result shows it was selective enough to separate GC-relevant riders into distinct tiers. The first three limited the race to themselves, Włodarczyk kept the damage relatively contained, and the riders behind conceded enough time for the day to have a clear general classification effect.

Reusser moves into yellow

The biggest GC consequence is Marlen Reusser becoming the race leader after stage 5. Finishing second on the stage, on the same time as Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney, was enough to put her at the top of the standings.

For Vollering, the stage win confirms she was able to convert the selective terrain into a result. For Reusser, the more important outcome is control of the race lead after a day where the hilly profile created gaps without needing a summit finish. That combination makes stage 5 more than a standalone victory - it reshaped the race around a front group that handled the terrain better than everyone else.