On paper, Stage 5 from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais was set to be one of the most thrilling spectacles in this 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and the outcome has well been on par with the expectations. Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) tore the Grande Boucle apart with an attack 31 kilometres from the finish that saw defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) fall out of contention. Later on, in the final climb of the day, the Dutch rider launched a number of accelerations that only Yellow Jersey Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) and 2024 overall winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM) could withstand. The deluxe front trio sprinted for victory at the finish, with Vollering claiming her fourth stage win in the Tour and Reusser keeping the lead in the general classification by 12” on the Dutch star and 1’17” on Niewiadoma-Phinney. Next up in the standings is the new owner of the white jersey, Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM), at 2’40”. Time for teams and riders to regroup ahead of Thursday’s stage: another demanding, lumpy day between Montbrison and the Tournon-sur-Rhône.
136 riders took the start in the 5th stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as of 13:59 CEST. There were two non-starters: Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis) and Teuntje Beekhuis (Uno-X Mobility). On the menu were 140 kilometres between Mâcon and Belleville-en-Beaujolais - one of the toughest days of this Grande Boucle on paper, with eight listed climbs and 2,900 meters of elevation gain.
Demanding pace in an up-and-down stage
The opening kilometres of the stage followed a pattern where several riders attacked up the climbs to increase the pace and drop some riders off the back of the peloton, without managing to open any gap - and then Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) accelerated towards the summit to claim maximum points for the QOM standings. This is exactly what happened up the Côte de Cenves (Cat 2, km 12.6), the Col de la Croix de l’Orme (Cat 4, km 28.4), the Côte de Saint-Christophe (Cat 4, km 33.7) and the Col de Fontmartin (Cat 3, km 54.1).
One of the unsuccessful attackers, Carlota Cipressi (Human Powered Health), was first across the Intermediate Sprint in Monsols (IS, km 39.5), with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) leading the peloton in the second place to extend her lead in the Points classification. Meanwhile, St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93’s India Grangier withdrew from the race - a sign of how demanding the pace was, even though no breakaway had gone clear thus far.
19-strong breakaway with Niedermaier, Wlodarczyk, Berthet
Atop the Col de Fontmartin (Cat 3, km 54.1), a series of accelerations ignited the race for a 19-strong breakaway to go up the road down the descent with Femke de Vries, Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike), Juliette Berthet, Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM), Dominika Wlodarczyk, Maëva Squiban (UAE Team L’Imad), Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime), Liane Lippert (Movistar Team), Amanda Spratt, Riejanne Markus, Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), Lore de Schepper, Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), Magdeleine Vallieres, Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech), Thalita De Jong (Human Powered Health) and Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise).
The hesitation in the peloton enabled the attackers to build a sizable gap that was clocked at 1’40” atop the Col de Gerbet (Cat 2, km 68.7), where Pieterse was first across yet again to secure the polka dot jersey and further extend her lead in the Mountains classification, as she would do later in the Côte de Pruzilly (Cat 4, km 75.3). At that point, their advantage was up to 1’45”, putting Niedermaier (who started the stage 9th overall, 1’43” behind Marlen Reusser) in the virtual Yellow Jersey. FDJ United-Suez and Movistar Team began pulling from the peloton, reduced to around 40 riders, in order to control the breakaway’s gap.
Excellent teamwork by FDJ United-Suez to set up Vollering’s triumph
The breakaway clocked their maximum gap at 50 kilometres to go, with 1’50”. From then on, the peloton got closer and closer and was just 1’20” behind them at the foot of the Col de Durbize (Cat 3, km 109.7). Évita Muzic and Célia Gery set up a devastating attack by her leader Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) 700 meters from the summit. Only Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), Yellow Jersey Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) and 2024 overall winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM) were able to follow her. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), French hope Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Dutch legend Anna Van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) fell out of contention at that point, to end up losing 2’35” at the finish.
The Yellow Jersey group joined the head of the race with 22 kilometres to go, where Vollering found her teammates Berthet and Koch. Both were up the road in the day’s breakaway and proved instrumental in building a gap on their chasers Paula Blasi, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’Imad) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), who trailed 35” behind the front group at the Bonus Point in Saint-Lager (B, km 125.8), where Reusser claimed 6” bonus seconds and Vollering scored 4”.
1.7 km from the summit of the Mont Brouilly (Cat 2, km 129.5), Vollering launched a new acceleration that just Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney were able to resist. The latter opened up the sprint for the win with 300 metres to go, only to be overtaken by Vollering and Reusser on time for the Dutch rider to claim her fourth stage win in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Wlodarczyk, Holmgren and Niedermaier lost 45” at the finish, enabling the German to become 4th overall and take the white jersey from Blasi, who in turn conceded 2’27” while Le Court-Pienaar and Longo Borghini reached the finish line 1’43” in arrears of Vollering.
