Kim Le Court made history on stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes, sprinting to victory in Guéret from a reduced group of GC contenders and reclaiming the yellow jersey in the process. The AG Insurance-Soudal rider became the first African to win a stage of the race, just edging out Demi Vollering in a photo finish after a late-race selection on the final climb and a high-speed descent to the line.
With support from Sarah Gigante, who triggered the decisive split on the Côte du Le Maupay, Le Court’s performance capped off a superb day for her team, who once again outmanoeuvred more established outfits.
Relentless early pace and breakaway action
The 150km stage began with a flurry of early attacks under mild temperatures of 22.5°C. The peloton was aggressive from the start, and the first hour of racing was the fastest of the week so far, averaging 46.7km/h. Franziska Koch launched the opening attack, following up her long-range effort on stage 4. Elena Cecchini then went solo, gaining a gap of 33 seconds before being brought back.
Several others tried to go clear, including Linda Zanetti, Elena Hartmann, and Victoire Berteau, but the peloton – at times led by Visma – Lease a Bike – kept things under control.
At 109km to go, Francesca Barale of Picnic PostNL struck out solo. Anneke Dijkstra of VolkerWessels bridged across, and the pair built a gap of over a minute. Soon after, Alison Jackson from EF Education-Oatly and Catalina Soto Campos of Laboral Kutxa jumped across to form a break of four. Their advantage hovered around 1 minute 35 seconds for much of the mid-stage.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Thomas MaheuxCrashes and key abandonments
Behind the breakaway, the peloton saw several incidents. Lorena Wiebes crashed and was briefly distanced before rejoining with help from Anna van der Breggen. Elisa Balsamo was less fortunate – caught in a crash involving around 15 riders, she became the most high-profile abandonment of the day. Monica Trinca Colonel and Katrine Aalerud also withdrew.
Marianne Vos, wearing the yellow jersey at the start of the day, appeared calm in the bunch early on, but the climbs to come would prove decisive.
Gigante launches decisive move on Le Maupay
The final trio of climbs – Côte de Chabannes (1.4km at 5.2%), Côte du Peyroux (3.3km at 4.3%), and the category 3 Côte du Le Maupay (2.8km at 5.4%) – were always likely to produce the GC battle. The breakaway was caught as the race approached the final climb, and that’s when AG Insurance-Soudal seized their moment.
Sarah Gigante surged on the steepest part of Le Maupay and blew the front group apart. “I just had to go full on the climb and make it hard,” she said after the finish. Marianne Vos was among those distanced, while a lead group of GC favourites formed over the top.
In the move with Gigante were Le Court, Vollering, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Kasia Niewiadoma, Anna van der Breggen, and Pauliena Rooijakkers. Gigante kept riding hard on the descent, allowing Le Court to recover and rejoin after briefly being distanced on the climb itself.
“We talked about this scenario last night, and it played out exactly like we hoped,” Gigante explained. “When I saw Kim come back on the descent, I knew she had a chance.”
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Pauline BalletLe Court holds off Vollering in dramatic finish
With no clear sprinter in the lead group, tension rose in the final kilometres. Gigante continued to do strong work on the front, keeping the pace high and covering any attacks. As the finish line in Guéret approached, Le Court launched with around 300 metres to go.
Demi Vollering reacted late but closed rapidly, nearly pipping her on the line. However, Le Court had timed it just right, throwing her bike to take a historic win by the narrowest of margins.
“I can’t believe it,” said Le Court. “To win a stage at the Tour and take the jersey again… it’s just unbelievable. I have to thank Sarah – she was incredible today. She made the difference when it mattered.”
Vollering, who had been recovering from her stage 3 crash, had said before the stage, “I already feel better today than yesterday… It was a relief to be able to ride, because my neck was so stiff.” Her late burst showed she’s now finding form and moving up the GC.
Vos loses yellow, Wiebes stays in green
Marianne Vos finished over a minute down, conceding the yellow jersey she had taken just 24 hours earlier. Speaking before the stage, she admitted the points classification wasn’t the main goal, saying, “Lorena has a good advantage, and as we said up front, that’s not the main target. With Lorena as competition you know that’s going to be hard.”
Lorena Wiebes, despite her early crash, finished safely in the bunch and retains the green jersey.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Thomas MaheuxLe Court delivers on her promise
Before the stage began, Kim Le Court had made her ambitions clear: “Today we’re going to try to do something special, why not take back the yellow jersey?”
By the end of the day in Guéret, she had done just that – taking the stage win, the race lead, and a place in the history books. With three days left to race and a summit finish still to come, Le Court now finds herself in yellow once again, this time with a stronger grip and a growing sense of belief.
2025 Tour de France Femmes Stage 5 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
