Ricarda Bauernfeind of the Canyon-SRAM team took a solo win on stage five of the Tour de France Femmes, from Onet-Le-Château to Albi.
On another demanding day, of 30 degree heat and hardly any flat road, a much reduced peloton arrived on the banks of the Tarn, after a long pursuit of lone attacker Bauernfeind.
The 23-year-old German rider had initially attacked on the descent of the Côte de Laguépie, with 40km still to race, but soon built a lead of a minute and a half. But once over the day’s final climb, the Côte de Monestiés, her advantage on the pursuing peloton, containing all the main favourites, diminished as they accelerated.
With 10km remaining, Bauernfeind still led, but only by 40 seconds, as Demi Vollering’s SD Worx team again smelt a catch in the final kilometres and a third stage win of the race. Two chasers, stage two winner Liane Lippert of Movistar and Vollering’s teammate, Marlen Reusser, stage winner in 2022, accelerated ahead but were unable to do anything to prevent Bauernfeind taking a memorable stage win.
The high temperatures and repetitive climbs made the 126km stage a bridge too far for some and the number of riders abandoning the race is now steadily growing. Among those to drop out en route to Albi was Évita Muzic, of the FDJ-Suez team, eighth in last year’s race, while SD Worx’s Lorena Wiebes, winner of stage three, was forced out with stomach problems.
Friday’s sixth stage, from Albi to Blagnac, includes more climbing with four categorised ascents. Many in the peloton will be hoping for a less exerting stage, given Saturday’s Pyrenean test which includes the mammoth climbs of the Col d’Aspin and the “beyond category” summit finish on the Col du Tourmalet.
