Vollering Claims Stage Five Victory, Climbs to Second in Giro Standings

Demi Vollering secured victory in stage five of the women’s Giro d’Italia, though the overall lead remained with her Dutch teammate, Anna van der Breggen, who retained the pink jersey. In a dramatic four-way sprint at the conclusion of the race’s inaugural mountain stage, Vollering edged out Van der Breggen to take the win. Germany’s Antonia Niedermaier finished third, matching the winners' time, while Canada’s Isabella Holmgren trailed by two seconds.

The stage, covering 146km into Santo Stefano di Cadore, saw a significant split on the final ascent. Elisa Longo Borghini, the defending champion who has won the Giro in the previous two years, was left behind on the last climb. However, she demonstrated strong descending skills to recover time, losing only 15 seconds during the descent. She crossed the line in fifth place, closely followed by New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black.

“It was a very hard day, with the race splitting much earlier than expected,” Vollering reflected. “Fortunately, I had Lauren Dickson with me, and she kept the pace high before I launched my attack. Now we need to avoid any risks over the next two stages before Saturday's queen stage.”

The win marked a milestone for Vollering, completing her collection of Grand Tour stage victories. It also propelled her to second place in the general classification, sitting one minute behind four-time Giro champion Van der Breggen. Van der Breggen, a former champion of both the Tour de France Femmes and La Vuelta Femenina, is now pursuing a historic achievement: becoming only the second woman, after Annemiek van Vleuten, to win all three Grand Tours.

The peloton now heads to a flat stage on Thursday, traveling 159km from Ala to Brescello. With a technical finale anticipated, the day’s outcome is expected to be decided by a bunch sprint.

Stage Five Results 1. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ United-Suez) – 4hrs 23mins 47secs 2. Anna Van der Breggen (Ned/Team SD Worx-Protime) – Same time 3. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon/SRAM) – Same time 4. Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) – +02secs 5. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team ADQ) – +15secs 6. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ/Lidl-Trek) – Same time 7. Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) – +53secs 8. Magdeleine Vallieres (Can/EF Education-Oatly) – Same time 9. Femke de Vries (Ned/Visma Lease a Bike) – Same time 10. Lore de Schepper (Bel/AG Insurance - Soudal Team) – +56secs

General Classification After Stage Five 1. Anna Van der Breggen (Ned/Team SD Worx-Protime) – 15hrs 55mins 13secs 2. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ United-Suez) – +1min 3. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon/SRAM) – +1min 24secs 4. Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) – +2mins 01secs 5. Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) – +2mins 03secs 6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team ADQ) – +2mins 12secs 7. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ/Lidl-Trek) – +2mins 33secs 8. Femke de Vries (Ned/Visma Lease a Bike) – +2mins 38secs 9. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita/Liv AlUla Jayco) – +3mins 21secs 10. Urska Zigart (Slo/AG Insurance-Soudal) – +3mins 26secs

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-03 19:01:02 UTC