Demi Vollering narrowly missed capitalizing on Kimberley Le Court’s premature celebration in the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Wednesday. The stage winner from Mauritius was already celebrating before the finish line, allowing Vollering to close in.
“I almost caught Le Court, but in the final meters, Anna (van der Breggen, ed.) boxed me in for a moment,” Vollering said after the fifth stage. “Then I had to brake briefly and lost all my speed. That was a shame.”
Vollering had to chase and managed to close the gap to Le Court, but fell just short of the stage victory. “In hindsight, it’s a pity that I was briefly driven into the boarding, but that’s all part of it.”
Despite missing out on the stage victory, Vollering looked back on a successful stage. “I felt good and today was enjoyable. I’m not at my best yet, but the end is still far away. It was nice to test my legs a little today before we go into the real mountains.”
Le Court also felt that Vollering was getting uncomfortably close in the final meters but had no doubts. “It might look like that on TV,” said the stage winner after the finish. “But when you’re on the bike you can see that you have the speed and cross the line first.”
“Maybe I scared people at home on the couch. Sorry about that,” continued Le Court, who, in addition to the stage victory, also regained the yellow jersey. “I knew that I was the fastest in the small group and have a good kick after such a day. Our plan worked well.”