Vuelta Femenina stage 5: Demi Vollering takes commanding win on first summit finish

Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) took her first victory of the season in emphatic fashion on stage 5 of the Vuelta Femenina.

The Dutch rider attacked on the first summit finish of the race to win alone and take the leader’s jersey in the first Grand Tour of the season, with Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) completing the top three on the final climb in Jaca.

Vollering lifted the pace with 1.9km to go on the final climb of the day, the Alto del Fuerte de Rapitán, and one by one she cracked all of her GC rivals with overnight leader Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) one of the first riders to lose ground.

Within just a few hundred metres, Vollering had reduced the front of the race to just a handful of riders with Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) lasting until the final five before eventually slipping back.

On the line, Vollering finished 28 seconds clear of Kastelijn, with Longo Borghini finishing on the same time. Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) claimed fourth, with Gigante in fifth.

“I felt really strong this season but I was not yet there. I had some podiums but the win took a long time for me I’m really happy that I could do it here. Last year I had this beautiful [national champion] jersey already but I was wearing the UCI [Women's WorldTour leader's] jersey. Winning in this jersey was my goal for this season, to win a few times in this jersey before the Dutch national championships. Now at least I have a nice finish photo,” Vollering said at the finish.

“The red jersey, the leader’s jersey, is a really pretty one and I hope that I can keep it until the very end. I just started the pace and I felt really good, and I just tried to keep going because Elisa was struggling in my wheel. I just tried to give it my very all until the end. That worked out and that’s nice. Hopefully, there are a few more nice days coming for our team.”

The win put Vollering 31 seconds clear of Longo Borghini at the top of the overall standings with Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) third at 53 seconds. Vos dropped to ninth but the stage also saw several other riders with GC hopes suffer and lose ground in the battle for the red jersey.

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) was one of the first GC riders to crack on the final 3.4km climb and now sits eighth at 1:47, while Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) and Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco) lost even more ground.

No breakaways, no problem

The first climbing test at the Vuelta Femenina was always going to come down to the short but tough summit finish at Jaca, and with a headwind at the start of the race, there was little action and no real surprise to see only limited and futile solo attacks during the first phase of the race.

With the 18.5km San Juan de la Peña climb midway through the race, attacks were always likely to feature on the long ascent but only Lourdes Oyarbide (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) obliged, with a solo move coming 56km from home.

Behind the Spanish rider, FDJ-SUEZ set the pace for their leader Évita Muzic but a crash with 54km to go involving Vos and Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale), and then another for Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) with 43km to go, provided telling reminders of the tense nature of the race.

Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) was especially effective in setting the pace at the front of the race and she latched onto a dangerous move from Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM) that was nullified by Vos’ team.

Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) was first over the top of the climb to extend her lead in the mountains classification but a crash for Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) effectively ended the Italian’s GC hopes after a second day of losing time.

Read more: Vuelta Femenina GC: Vollering and Niewiadoma gain, Realini loses in stage 4 crosswinds

On the long descent into the valley, a small group including Niewiadoma and Vollering escaped the clutches of the main field but once the road flattened there was a general regrouping as the race headed for the first uphill finish of this year’s race.

Swinkels used the brief hesitation to move clear with 12.4km to go and the 25-year-old held a two-second lead heading onto the 3.4km climb before Brown, Visma-Lease a Bike and Gigante’s AG Insurance-Soudal team reeled in the lone leader.

Brown continued on the front on the final approach to the climb before Gigante took control once the gradient began to rise. The Australian looked comfortable on the early slopes, setting her own tempo as Vollering latched onto her wheel.

With 2.4km only a dozen riders remained, with Gigante still setting the pace before Vollering pushed on the pedals and lined out what was left of the front group. One by one her rivals disappeared before only Kastelijn and Longo Borghini remained. Neither rider took a turn as Vollering continued on her mission and with 800m to go the Dutch national champion was alone and heading to her first win of the season. A huge relief, a huge victory and huge step towards the overall title.