MADRID, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The defending champion of the Vuelta Femenina (Women's Tour of Spain), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) showed she is again the rider to beat after winning the fifth stage of the 2025 edition of the race on Thursday to go into the overall lead with two stages left to ride.
Vollering received excellent support from her team-mates on the 120-kilometer stage that started in Golmayo and ended with the testing climb up the 6.7 kilometer climb up to Lagunas de Neila.
The second of two difficult climbs in the closing kilometers of the race contained ramps of up to 17 percent and other sections of between 11 and 12 percent gradient.
The FDJ-Suiz team tried to keep the pace high going into the climb to Lagunas de Neila to allow Vollering to launch her definitive attack with three kilometers left on the stage.
She quickly opened a lead of around 15 seconds over a reduced group, with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Anna van der Bregen (Team SD Worx) trying to keep in touch.
Van der Bregen won on Wednesday in her comeback from retirement and she was able to spin out a constant pace to ensure she is in second place overall, 45 seconds off the leader.
Vollering finished 24 seconds ahead of Reusser and added a 10-second time bonus to that, while Van der Bregen finished 56 behind the Dutch rider, who is back to her best after some difficult moments in 2024.
"I'm really happy to win the stage and very proud of the effort of the team, I think I had a hard time, so today I did everything I could, because of my mentality," Vollering said, before alluding to the stress and tension of top-level cycling.
"I can win races, but some people struggle with mental health, which is such a problem in this world, so my win is for all of those people," she added.
Overnight leader, Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) suffered a fall with 24 kilometers left on the stage, while Olympic Mountain bike gold medal winner and the recent champion in the Paris-Roubaix one-day race, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot withdrew before the start of the stage due to the fatigue caused by her recent efforts.
Friday sees another sprint stage, before another tough mountain stage on Saturday that will decide the overall winner. ■