Tour de France Femmes 2026 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE] (ladies)

August 5, 2026

5th Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026 🇫🇷 (2.WWT) WE – Stage 5 – Mâcon – Belleville-en-Beaujolais : 140 km

Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is a UCI Women’s WorldTour classification stage race that traverses a diverse and demanding array of terrains across France, showcasing the country’s most iconic landscapes—from rolling vineyards and open plains to rugged mountain passes and technical descents. The parcours is designed to test every facet of a rider’s ability, with stages that range from flat, high-speed sprint finishes to grueling mountain ascents featuring gradients of 8–12% on narrow, winding roads. The climbs are often long and sustained, such as those in the Vosges, Alps, or Pyrenees, where the roads snake through dense forests and open pastures before culminating in punishing summit finishes. The descents are fast and technical, with sharp switchbacks and uneven surfaces that demand precision and courage. The race dynamics vary dramatically depending on the stage profile. The flatter stages are typically contested in high-speed bunch sprints, though crosswinds on exposed roads can split the peloton and create opportunities for late breaks. The hilly and mountainous stages, however, are where the race truly unfolds, with attacks launching on the steepest sections or during the technical descents, where gaps can open quickly. The peloton often fractures into smaller groups on the most demanding climbs, while the flatter stages allow for more controlled racing and tactical maneuvering. The finish styles range from uphill sprints on steep, short climbs to reduced-group finishes after long descents or solo moves on the most challenging stages. The Tour de France Femmes is a race of endurance, strategy, and versatility, where the interplay of terrain, weather, and tactics creates a dynamic and unpredictable test for the world’s best riders.

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) won stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes, outsprinting Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) from a group of three that got away on the Mont Brouilly. Marlen Reusser keeps the yellow jersey, and all three riders take a lot of time on their GC rivals.

FDJ United-Suez had chased behind the breakaway that only formed with just over 80km to go on a very demanding stage, then led out their leader on the Col de Durbize, cresting 30.4km from the line. Vollering accelerated herself on the steeper second part of the climb, and her pace saw Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), Elisa Longo Borghini, and Paula Blasi (both UAE Team L’IMAD) dropped.

Having been part of the break, the FDJ United-Suez duo of Franziska Koch and Juliette Berthet provided crucial work on the way to the final climb to extend the gap to the dropped GC contenders, and on the Mont Brouilly, Vollering accelerated several times, riding everybody but Niewiadoma-Phinney off her wheel.

Reusser was a second behind at the top and closed the gap on the descent to the finish, making it a front group of three. Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked out of the final turn and quickly got a gap, but Vollering clawed her back just before the line to win the stage.

“Today was just a really cool race. The whole team, every single rider was part of it. And I enjoy those victories the most. When everybody put their hard work in it, it’s even more special and beautiful because you really do it all together,” said Vollering, thanking her teammates for their work in setting her up for the final.

“I knew Kasia would go early because she always does, and I knew Marlen would gamble, so I let her gamble a bit to try to make her work, but she didn’t. Then I was like, ‘if I don’t don’t do anything, then Kasia is going to win. I have to try, and maybe Marlen will come past me’.

“I just gave it my everything until the line. It was a very long sprint, and I needed every single metre on the finishing straight. I thought I was not going to make it anymore but I managed to do it, so I’m very happy about that,” Vollering recounted the sprint for the stage win.

In the general classification, Vollering made up two seconds to Reusser due to time bonifications and is now 12 seconds behind the yellow jersey, with Niewiadoma-Phinney moving up to third place, 1:17 minutes behind.

“I already won a Tour, Kasia as well. Marlen is the one who never won a Tour yet, so she has to work for it as well. I’m sure it will be a hard battle, she’s very strong and not a rider you can beat easily, but I will try everything,” Vollering looked ahead to fighting for the overall victory on the four remaining stages.

Decisive attack over Mont Brouilly
With eight classified climbs and many more uncategorised climbs on 140km, the stage through the Beaujolais vineyards and forests from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais delivered the action it promised and more.

Despite a few attacks and numerous riders losing contact on the first climb, the peloton stayed together over the Côte de Cenves where Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) extended her lead in the mountain classification.

Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) then went on a solo breakaway but was never more than 10 seconds ahead and got caught before the Col de la Croix de l’Orme where Pieterse again took maximum points from the peloton. More riders tried to get away before the next climb, but Pieterse herself closed gaps and then took the points on the fourth-category Côte de Saint-Christophe as well.

Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health) got a small gap after 34km and was 17 seconds ahead at the intermediate sprint in Monsols where Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took the remaining points in the peloton to bolster her lead in the points classification. Cipressi was reeled in again soon after on an unclassified climb, and despite several more attacks, nobody could get away, and the peloton started the Col de Fontmartin together but in single file.

Pieterse was first over the top once again, the break of the day finally formed when Koch pushed the pace on the descent and 19 riders came together to form the front group: Fisher-Black, Riejanne Markus, Amanda Spratt (all Lidl-Trek), Femke de Vries, Sarah Van Dam (both Visma-Lease a Bike), Berthet, Koch (both FDJ United-Suez), Dominika Włodarczyk, Maëva Squiban (both UAE Team L’IMAD), Lore De Schepper, Justine Ghekiere (both AG Insurance-Soudal), Magdeleine Vallières, Noemi Rüegg (both EF Education-Oatly), Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM), Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime), Liane Lippert (Movistar), Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health), Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise), and of course polka-dot jersey Pieterse.

They started the next climb, the Col de Gerbet, about 40 seconds ahead of the peloton and extended their advantage to 1:43 minutes at the top, where Pieterse took the mountain points, same as on the Côte de Pruzilly.

In the peloton, FDJ United-Suez had taken up the chase but made little headway against the large break where Lidl-Trek were doing most of the work. With 60km to go, the gap was 1:35 minutes. Despite Movistar lending Paula Ostiz to the chase, the gap grew slightly to 1:51 minutes at the 50km mark, putting Niedermaier, who had started the stage 1:43 minutes behind in GC, in the virtual leader’s jersey.

At the bottom of the Col de Durbize, FDJ United-Suez had reduced the gap to 1:18 minutes, and Squiban attacked into the climb, trying to split up the front group. She was quickly caught again, but the break fell apart anyway on the steep second half of the climb after a short descent.

Fisher-Black, De Vries, Lippert, Vallières, Włodarczyk, Berthet, and Niedermaier remained in front at the top, just 36 seconds ahead of the GC favourites as Vollering’s acceleration had exploded the peloton. Only Reusser, Niewiadoma-Phinney, and Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) could follow the European champion on the steep slopes of up to 16%.

Koch was picked up by the Vollering group and immediately got to work, riding hard to keep the dropped GC contenders from coming back and instead extend the gap. The last remaining escapees were caught by this group with 22.6km to go, by which time Blasi, Longo Borghini, and Le Court-Pienaar were chasing 30 seconds behind. The group with Ferrand-Prévot, Van der Breggen, and Kerbaol was over a minute down already.
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Reusser won the bonus sprint in Saint-Lager ahead of Vollering and Włodarczyk, extending her GC lead by two seconds just before the final climb up the Mont Brouilly began with 13.7km to go. Berthet led the front group of 13 riders, a mix of GC contenders and survivors from the breakaway, up the first half of the climb, then Vollering took over 1.8km from the top, just before the gradient started to ramp up.

Her first acceleration cut the group in half as only Niewiadoma-Phinney, Reusser, De Vries, Włodarczyk, Holmgren, Fisher-Black, and Niedermaier could follow. Another acceleration on the steepest part of the climb, a short 14% ramp, could not shake off any riders, but on the last 600m of the climb, Vollering attacked again and kept going through the forest on the hairpin turns to the top.

Only Niewiadoma-Phinney could hold her wheel, with Reusser having to let a small gap open up, but the yellow jersey fought to keep the gap small and was only a second behind at the mountain sprint. Holmgren and Niedermaier were 18 seconds behind, Włodarczyk a further six seconds down.

With Vollering giving it everything on the descent, Reusser had to push hard to close the tiny gap but made it back 8.8km from the finish line. The trio then traded turns to the town of Belleville-en-Beaujolais, with Reusser briefly coming off the road in a turn but staying upright.

Taking the last position before the final turn, Niewiadoma-Phinney launched her attack out of the corner and onto the 410-metre finishing straight, opening up a sizable gap at first. After a brief hesitation, Vollering started her long sprint and came around Niewiadoma-Phinney on the last 30 metres to win the stage.

Le Court-Pienaar and Longo Borghini lost 1:43 minutes in the end, Blasi finished 2:27 minutes down, and Kerbaol, Van der Breggen, and Ferrand-Prévot lost 2:35 minutes.

Results :