Demi Vollering won stage five of the Tour de France Femmes, outsprinting yellow jersey holder Marlen Reusser to the line in Belleville-en-Beaujolais after a 140-kilometre race from Macon that was decided on the slopes of Mont Brouilly. Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon-Sram, who had launched the sprint first, finished third BBC Sport.

The race cracked open on the Mont Brouilly climb — a roughly three-kilometre category-two ascent with gradients reaching 14% in places — with about ten kilometres left to race. Vollering surged repeatedly on the climb, attacking again and again until the group behind splintered Velo. Only Reusser and Niewiadoma could follow. The three crested together and contested the finish on the flat run-in, where Vollering proved fastest. All three were given the same time of 3 hours 53 minutes 54 seconds Cyclingnews.

The damage further back was considerable. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of Visma-Lease a Bike lost more than two and a half minutes, dropping to 17th overall and five minutes off the lead. Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx-Protime, returning to top-level road racing this season, also lost over two and a half minutes and fell more than four minutes down in the GC — the overall standings BBC Sport.

Reusser, who rides for Movistar, kept the yellow jersey she earned by winning the stage-four time trial into Dijon. She leads Vollering by 12 seconds in the general classification. Niewiadoma sits third, one minute 17 seconds behind Reusser, with Canyon-Sram teammate Antonia Niedermaier fourth at 2:40 Tour de France Femmes.

There had been concern earlier in the race for both protagonists. An early crash on a previous stage brought down several riders, including Vollering and Reusser, though neither lost significant time in that incident Tour de France Femmes. On stage five, both showed no lingering effects, riding clear of the field together.

Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands leads the green points jersey competition with 131 points. Puck Pieterse held onto the polka dot jersey awarded to the race's best climber, known as the Queen of the Mountains classification, despite losing ground on the stage. Antonia Niedermaier took the white young rider's jersey from Spain's Paula Blasi of UAE Team L'Imad BBC Sport.

Race organisers also confirmed that no spectators or hikers would be permitted inside the Dentelles de Montmirail massif, a limestone ridge the route passes through, citing safety and environmental concerns Tour de France Femmes.

With the race heading toward its mountainous final stages, Vollering's stage win tightens an already close contest at the top. Twelve seconds is the gap between first and second. Everything is still to race for.