Despite a failed breakaway attempt, Germany’s cycling hopeful Antonia Niedermaier has moved up to fourth place in the general classification at the Women’s Tour de France. The 23-year-old from Rosenheim crossed the finish line in sixth place on the fifth stage in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 45 seconds behind the group of favourites.
After a 140-kilometre stage through the vineyards north of Lyon, featuring eight mountain climbs, the stage victory went to the Dutch favourite Demi Vollering, ahead of overall leader Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland.
Reusser successfully defended the yellow jersey as overall leader. The time trial world champion now leads Vollering by twelve seconds. Niedermaier trails by 2 minutes and 40 seconds. This means a place on the Tour podium is still a possibility. At the same time, she took the white jersey as the best young female rider.
Niedermaier is currently virtually in yellow
Niedermaier, who had already finished the Giro d’Italia in a strong second place, joined a breakaway group of 19 riders a good 85 kilometres from the finish. The group also included German champion Franziska Koch and former Tour stage winner Liane Lippert. At one point, the lead was almost two minutes, meaning that Niedermaier was even virtually in the yellow jersey. However, in the peloton, the teams of Reusser and Vollering pushed the pace, resulting in the breakaway being caught a good 22 kilometres from the finish.
Meanwhile, last year’s French winner, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, suffered yet another setback. At the penultimate mountain classification, she was forced to let the group of favourites pull away. The Olympic mountain bike champion from Paris had already lost more than two minutes in Tuesday’s individual time trial.
Thursday’s sixth stage also takes the riders over undulating terrain. A 153.4-kilometre route awaits the riders between Montbrison and Tournon-sur-Rhône. On Friday, the riders will tackle the climb up the infamous Mont Ventoux. The Women’s Tour will conclude on Sunday in Nice.
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