Lorena Wiebes roars to Stage 5 victory at Tour de France Femmes, Marianne Vos increases lead

Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) proved she is the strongest out-and-out sprinter at the Tour de France Femmes with a dominant victory on Stage 5.

World champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) was a distant second, while Marianne Vos finished third after losing her Jumbo-Visma team-mates in the finale, forcing her to plot her own path to the line.

But Vos' four bonus seconds saw her extend her lead in the general classification to 20 seconds.

The day was marred by an enormous crash that forced Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), a key lieutenant to pre-race favourite Annemiek van Vleuten, to leave in an ambulance and left others wounded.

It was a stage more remarkable for its sheer length than for any of the features the bunch would encounter during the day. With just two Cat. 4 climbs to contend with, neither anywhere near the finish line in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, it was the 175.6km of undulating roads that would be the primary challenge for the peloton on Stage 5.

Exceeding the distance recommended by the UCI for women’s races by 45km, the stage was the longest in modern women’s cycling, and coming off the back of a stressful day in the saddle on Wednesday, when many riders suffered at the hands of the loose gravel on the road to Bar-Sur-Aube, a long day in the saddle lay ahead for the women.

An early of break of four riders escaped the bunch, and they were allowed to move out to just over three minutes ahead of the peloton for a time, ensuring that those within their number scooped up the scant points available in the Queen of the Mountains competition on the two Cat. 4 ascents of the day.

With so little climbing on the menu though, the day was weighted in favour of a bunch sprint, and Team DSM set out their stall early, controlling the pace at the front on behalf of green jersey wearer Wiebes. Jumbo-Visma worked alongside them for Vos, who wore the yellow jersey for the third day in a row.

The relaxed atmosphere in the bunch proved its undoing however, as with just over 40km remaining, around half were brought down in a massive crash. The result was a huge pile-up, and although most of the riders were able to re-mount their bikes and continue on, many suffered injuries, the worst of these being Norsgaard, who was forced to leave the race in what looked to be considerable pain. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and Marta Bastianelli (UAE-Team-ADQ) were also caught up in the incident, the former requiring mechanical assistance and the latter with a bandaged arm, on a day where they would have hoped to contest in a final sprint.

Some 20km out, Team Cofidis' Victoire Berteau attacked from the breakaway group and, along with Antri Christoforou of Human Powered Health, formed a leading pair. They were able to hold off the encroaching peloton until they were caught with just 2.5km remaining following a gritty effort to stay away.

Trek-Segafredo were in pole position as the sprint lead-outs began, but although Ellen Van Dijk was well-positioned, Elisa Longo Borghini who came through behind her took a wrong turn and briefly rode herself out of the race.

The final kilometre was hectic, and although the likes of Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing Xstra) and Maria Confalonieri (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) were well-positioned coming into the final stretch, the trio of Balsamo, Vos and Wiebes were able to pull clear of the bunch. In the final 200m though it was Wiebes who was head and shoulders above the current and former world champions, delivering a blistering sprint to hold off her rivals and storm to a convincing win, her second of the Tour so far.

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