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La Vuelta stage 5: Vollering takes stage and race lead on first summit finish

La Vuelta stage 5: Vollering takes stage and race lead on first summit finish

Marlen Reusser and Anna van der Breggen took second and third on the race's first major GC showdown.

Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) displayed her strength in commanding fashion by winning the fifth stage of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es. The 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner took the first mountaintop finish of the race after a stinging attack on the final ascent, the Lagunas de Neila. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) finished second on the stage, 24 seconds behind her former director, and yesterday's stage winner, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), climbed to third, a further 32 seconds down.

With her win, Vollering also moved into the red jersey, 45 seconds ahead of Van der Breggen and 46 seconds ahead of Reusser.

Brief results

[race_result id=9058 stage_id=87612 count=10 gc=0 year=2025]

GC after stage 5

[race_result id=9058 stage_id=87612 count=10 gc=10 year=2025]

How it happened

The breakaway of the day that was doomed from the start.
Femke Gerritse at the start of the stage.
Cédrine Kerbaol in the leading bunch on the final climb.
Évita Muzic and Juliette Labous lead the group on the first ascent.

Quote of the day

As she normally does, Vollering wore her heart on her sleeve in her brief post-race interview, while cooling down on a trainer.

I am really happy to win this stage and I am proud of the work we did as a team. The last days [have been] a little bit more difficult.

She had very little to say about the stage itself, instead she wanted to call attention to mental health and dedicate her win to anyone who struggles with mental health.

Someone close to me [is going] through a really hard time, mentally, and I see around me people struggle so today I did everything I could because mentally I know I am very strong. Because of my mentality I can win beautiful races, but some people their mentality, their brain is too strong in the wrong direction and they struggle so much with their mental health and it's still such an unkown problem in this world so today my win was a sacrifice for all the people who have a really hard time mentally.

Vollering will no doubt expand upon her words on her social media once she's had a shower and some recovery.

What's next

Adapted from my full Vuelta preview ...

Stage 6: Becerril de Campos to Baltanás - 126.7 km - Friday, May 9 at 11:05 CET

A slight reprieve in between general classification battles, the sixth stage looks to be a great day for a breakaway. It's not super long, only 126.7 km, with a few uncategorised climbs in the final 25 km of the stage and some good opportunities to slip away in the early kilometres. The final climbs aren't completely insignificant, mainly because of where they are in the stage. The steepest bit of all three is only 8%, mostly they are in the 2-6% range, and they are 2.3 km, 2.1 km, and 1.8 km in order of first to last. What makes them more of a factor is that they descend straight into each other. There is some rest on the top of the first two climbs where the road plateaus, but the descents are fast and technical, so the peloton will be stretched out when the next climb starts. 

Someone like Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly) could seize an opportunity here to attack if the vibes are in the right place. Or someone like Lidl-Trek's Anna Henderson – a rider who knows how to descend. If the peloton does simply roll over these kickers, the finish is on a 3.5% grade. So it's not really a sprint, but it could be for someone like Lorena Wiebes or stage 2 winner Marianne Vos. In order for it to be a sprint, however, the sprinter's teams will need to back their sprinter on this finish, which doesn't apply to every sprinter in the race. 

An additional factor in this stage could be wind. Because of how the course is laid out, with multiple changes of direction, and because it takes place in mostly wide-open areas, crosswinds could make an appearance.

The way SD Worx-Protime have been riding it wouldn't be surprising to see Bredewold on the attack in the latter stages of the sixth day. Vos will want to take another stage win, and would be the top pick if the stage does go to a reduced group. Since Visma-Lease a Bike is down one Ferrand-Prévot, they will be all in for Vos. But hopefully the stage will go to someone who isn't front of mind, those are always memorable moments in stage races.

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