Tour de France Femmes: Second stage win for Wiebes

The 23-year-old from Team DSM won the fifth stage after a largely flat 176 kilometres from Bar-le-Duc to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in a superior bunch sprint. Wiebes had already won the opening stage in Paris on 24 July.

Vos defends yellow jersey

The Italian Elisa Balsamo finished second ahead of the Dutchwoman Marianne Vos, who thus defended the overall leader's yellow jersey. The three-time road world champion and 2012 Olympic champion is 20 seconds ahead of Italy's Silvia Persico and Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

• All stages of the Tour de France Femmes at a glance

German riders were unable to intervene in the decision. German champion Liane Lippert remains in 13th place overall, 3:19 minutes behind Vos.

Mass crash 50 kilometres before the finish

The breakaway riders Victoire Berteau from France and Antri Christoforou from Cyprus were able to hope for victory on the longest stage until just under three kilometres before the finish. Then the peloton and all the favourites closed the gap. Around 50 kilometres before the finish, there was a mass crash in which many riders were involved.

• The start list and the teams of the women's Tour de France

The sixth stage on Friday leads over 126 kilometres from Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in the Vosges to Rosheim.

Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved