The Tour of Britain Women 2026 concludes on Sunday 23 August with Stage 5 starting and finishing in Royal Leamington Spa, where Kim Le Court-Pienaar will attempt to secure the overall victory and Lorena Wiebes will chase a fourth stage win of the week.
The final stage starts at 11:00 BST, with the finish expected at approximately 14:30 BST beside Jephson Gardens. At 123.8 kilometres, it is the shortest road stage of the race and also the flattest, although 1,386 metres of climbing and the late ascents of Sun Rising Hill and Burton Dassett mean the GC fight is not necessarily over.
For UK viewers, Stage 5 can again be followed live through the official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel, with the wider broadcast options covered in ProCyclingUK’s Tour of Britain Women 2026 UK viewing guide.
What time does Tour of Britain Women Stage 5 start?
The key Stage 5 timings are:
Date: Sunday 23 August 2026
Start: Royal Leamington Spa
Finish: Royal Leamington Spa
Distance: 123.8km
Stage start: 11:00 BST
Expected finish: Around 14:30 BST
Stage type: Rolling / sprint
Elevation: 1,386m
That gives viewers a relatively compact three-and-a-half-hour final stage, although the exact finish time can move depending on the average speed and how aggressively the closing Warwickshire climbs are raced.
The Tour of Britain Women 2026 route guide has the full five-stage route and explains how the Royal Leamington Spa finale compares with the much harder Welsh stages that have already shaped the general classification.
How to watch Tour of Britain Women Stage 5 live
The official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel provides the simplest way to follow the final stage live.
The race’s UK broadcast arrangements also include television and streaming coverage, with the full details and latest viewing options available in the Tour of Britain Women 2026 UK viewing guide.
For anyone following the race specifically for the final GC battle, Sunday is worth watching well before the finish. The late climbs provide the last opportunity for Le Court-Pienaar’s rivals to create the physical gap they need before the roads flatten towards Leamington.
What time should viewers tune in?
Anyone wanting to watch the complete final stage should be ready for the 11:00 BST start.
For viewers primarily interested in the GC battle and stage victory, around 13:15 BST is a sensible time to tune in. That should provide enough time to see the race approaching the decisive Warwickshire terrain and understand which teams are beginning to apply pressure.
Anyone interested mainly in the finale should be watching by 14:00 BST rather than waiting for the predicted 14:30 finish.
That is because Stage 5 does not simply become a flat sprint from the final 10 kilometres. Sun Rising Hill averages around 10% for 900 metres and Burton Dassett Hills Country Park is roughly 700 metres at 9%, providing two significant opportunities for the GC challengers to attack before the run back towards Royal Leamington Spa.
Where does Tour of Britain Women Stage 5 start and finish?
Stage 5 both starts and finishes in Royal Leamington Spa, with the finishing line positioned beside Jephson Gardens.
The riders initially head north towards Kenilworth before completing a large loop through Warwickshire and eventually turning back towards Leamington for the decisive final section.
Sunday is classified as the flattest stage of the race, but that description is slightly misleading. There is still enough climbing to make the final day uncomfortable, particularly once the accumulated fatigue from the previous four stages is taken into account.
The complete field for the race is available in the full Tour of Britain Women 2026 start list.
Why Stage 5 is not simply a ceremonial finale
The overall race remains live because the final stage contains two short but steep climbs.
Sun Rising Hill provides the first opportunity to start reducing the group, while Burton Dassett is the most obvious place for one final GC attack.
Neither climb is particularly long.
That actually makes positioning more important.
A rider starting the climb too far back can lose several seconds simply through splits ahead, while a hard acceleration from the front can immediately create a small group.
For Kim Le Court-Pienaar, the objective is therefore not to dominate the climbs. She simply needs to remain close to the riders capable of threatening her overall lead.
Her position at the top of the classification also reflects why she was among the principal names in ProCyclingUK’s Tour of Britain Women 2026 contenders preview.
Kim Le Court-Pienaar starts the final day with the race in her hands
Kim Le Court-Pienaar enters Stage 5 as the rider everyone else has to dislodge.
Her victory on the Great Orme gave her control of the general classification, and she then backed that up on the much longer Stage 4 through Mid Wales by responding to the principal attacks and finishing at the front of the race.
That means she has already passed the two most obvious GC tests of the Tour.
Sunday is different because Le Court-Pienaar does not need to attack.
Her priority is simply following Liane Lippert and the other riders close enough to threaten her overall position. Any attack from a rider well down the classification can be treated very differently from a move involving one of her direct rivals.
If Le Court-Pienaar reaches the top of Burton Dassett with the principal contenders and a manageable group around her, she should be extremely difficult to remove from the overall lead before Leamington.
Photo Credit: GettyLiane Lippert cannot afford to wait for the finish
Liane Lippert needs a physical gap rather than simply a strong finishing sprint.
That makes the late climbs the most important part of the stage for Movistar.
Sun Rising Hill can be used to remove some of Le Court-Pienaar’s support before Burton Dassett provides the last obvious launchpad.
The difficulty is what happens afterwards.
Burton Dassett does not finish at the line, so any rider who creates separation still needs to commit on the road back towards Leamington.
A ten-second advantage over the summit is useful, but it is not automatically enough.
Lippert therefore needs more than one acceleration. Movistar’s best route towards changing the Tour may be to make the whole final section hard rather than relying on one explosive move.
Lorena Wiebes remains the stage favourite
Lorena Wiebes is the obvious rider to watch if the groups reform before Royal Leamington Spa.
Her performances throughout this Tour have shown that she can survive considerably harder terrain than a conventional sprinter would normally want.
That matters because Sunday’s late climbs are steep but short.
Even if Wiebes is briefly distanced, there is enough road afterwards for her team and other sprint-interested riders to organise a chase.
If she returns to the front group before the final kilometres, the equation becomes extremely difficult for everyone else.
They have to beat the fastest finisher in the race after already spending energy trying to drop her.
That is why Wiebes remains the strongest individual stage favourite despite the late climbing.
Caroline Andersson and Femke de Vries need an aggressive finale
Caroline Andersson and Femke de Vries have shown across the Welsh stages that they can remain competitive when the race becomes difficult.
Neither should have much interest in helping produce another sprint for Wiebes.
Instead, they can use Movistar’s attempts to pressure Le Court-Pienaar as an opportunity to improve their own positions.
If Lippert accelerates on Sun Rising Hill or Burton Dassett, Andersson and de Vries have every reason to follow rather than helping close the move.
That can turn what begins as an attack on the race leader into a much broader battle for the final podium.
With no further stages to protect themselves for, the incentive is to take risks.
Karlijn Swinkels can profit from other riders overcommitting
Karlijn Swinkels has a slightly different route towards improving her final result.
Her consistency has been one of her biggest strengths throughout the race.
While rivals around her may need to attack, Swinkels can concentrate on remaining close enough to benefit if those efforts fail later.
A rider who spends too much energy trying to create separation on Burton Dassett can easily lose more time in the run towards Leamington than she initially gained.
Swinkels also has enough finishing speed to become relevant if the final group is selective but still large enough for a sprint.
Photo Credit: SWPix.comWhy Burton Dassett is the key point to watch
Burton Dassett Hills Country Park is the final major opportunity to reshape the general classification.
The ascent is around 700 metres at an average of roughly 9%, giving the strongest puncheurs enough gradient to create gaps while remaining short enough that position entering the climb is crucial.
It was used as a summit finish during the men’s Tour of Britain in 2025, but Stage 5 of the women’s race continues afterwards.
That changes the tactical calculation.
The GC contenders have to attack there, but they cannot stop riding once they reach the top.
The sprinters know that surviving within a manageable distance still gives them a realistic chance of returning.
That makes the kilometres immediately after Burton Dassett just as important as the climb itself.
When will the decisive part of Stage 5 happen?
With the finish expected at around 14:30 BST, the most important part of the race should fall within the final hour.
Viewers who cannot watch the entire stage should therefore prioritise 13:30 onwards.
By then, the early breakaway should either be established well ahead or beginning to come back, the GC teams will be positioning for the late climbs and the stage should start moving from ordinary control towards the final attacks.
If the peloton remains largely together over Burton Dassett, expect a fast regrouping towards a sprint.
If Lippert or another GC challenger creates meaningful separation, the run into Leamington becomes a pursuit rather than a conventional finale.
Can Stage 5 still change the overall winner?
Yes, but the route favours the rider already leading.
There is enough difficulty for Le Court-Pienaar to come under pressure, but not enough sustained climbing for large gaps to appear naturally.
That puts responsibility on her challengers.
They need to make the final stage hard rather than waiting for the course to do the work for them.
Le Court-Pienaar can react.
Lippert and the other riders chasing her need to create.
That tactical imbalance makes the green jersey the favourite to remain on the same shoulders when the race finishes in Royal Leamington Spa.
Tour of Britain Women Stage 5 live viewing summary
The essential UK viewing details are:
11:00 BST: Stage 5 starts in Royal Leamington Spa
Around 13:15 BST: Good time to tune in for the decisive second half
From around 13:30 BST: Key viewing window for the late Warwickshire terrain
By 14:00 BST: Viewers interested only in the finale should be watching
Around 14:30 BST: Expected finish beside Jephson Gardens
The stage can be followed live through the official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel, with the full television and streaming picture available in ProCyclingUK’s Tour of Britain Women 2026 UK viewing guide.
The central question is whether anyone can make Sun Rising Hill and Burton Dassett difficult enough to dislodge Le Court-Pienaar before the roads flatten towards Royal Leamington Spa.
If they cannot, the overall title should be hers.
If Wiebes is still in the front group when the race reaches Jephson Gardens, another stage victory will be the most likely way the Tour of Britain Women 2026 ends.
