Stage 5 of La Vuelta Femenina was won by Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), who motored away from Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) on the final climb Fuerte Rapitán to take the win and GC lead.
Vollering now leads on the GC, 31 seconds ahead of Longo Borghini.
The stage started with attacks, but no one was able to get away until about 50km from the finish, when Lourdes Oyarbide (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) gained 30” on the peloton by herself. On the first climb of the day, Alto del Monasterio de San Juan de la Pera, she held the lead until she was swallowed up by the peloton after two kilometers.
Amber Kraak (FDJ SUEZ), Maví García (Liv AlUla Jayco), along with Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) were the next to try and force a gap in the final kilometers of the climb, but were unsuccessful.
In the end, the high pace set by the peloton did more damage to riders than GC rivals, with names like Blanka Vas and Alison Jackson being distanced and never getting back on.
The descent was fast and hairy, with climber Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) one of the victims who fell in sharp turn and tried to get back to the peloton with the help of teammate Brodie Chapman. However, a fast pace at the front of the peloton doomed Realini’s chances, and by the time she crossed the finish line she had lost seven minutes.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) , Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), and Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) emerged as the strongest riders on the final climb and pushed the pace over the final kilometers. GC rival, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) was unable to follow.
Kastelijn was the first to drop off Vollering’s wheel, then Longo Borghini. Vollering crossed the line with a lead of 28 seconds over Kastelijn, who was able to hang onto Longo Borghini and come around at the end to take second.
Results
La Vuelta Femenina, Stage 5
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 3:09:52
2. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +28s
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, same time
4. Évita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-Suez, +39s
5. Sarah Gigante (Aus) AG Insurance-Soudal, +41s
6. Ricarda Bauerfind (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +44s
7. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, same time
8. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +47s
9. Kim Cazdow (NZl) EF Education-Cannondale, +57s
10. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +1:08
General Classification
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 13:09:45
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +31s
3. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +57s
4. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Cannondale, +1:10
5. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL. +1:13
6. Marlen Reusser (Sui) SD Worx-Protime, +1:23
7. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) SD Worx-Protime, +1:34
8. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, +1:47
9. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:07
10. Silke Smulders (Ned), Liv AlUla Jayco, +2:41
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ceratzit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2024/stage-5
