Ricarda Bauernfeind has already ensured the second German victory on the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes. Single-handedly, she prevailed against the favorites on Thursday (07/27/2023).
“I can’t believe it, it’s incredible. Everyone helped me and supported me, and then it was up to me. I tried it and it worked,” said a completely overwhelmed Bauernfeind, who at 23 was the youngest stage winner in Tour de France Femmes history. “It’s already the best tour ever for me, everything else is still an extra.”
Three mountains to Albi
After the great exertion of the previous day with the overly long fourth stage over 185 kilometers, there was no opportunity for the riders to take a breather on the way to Toulouse. The profile of the 126 kilometers from Aveyron to Albi was again very bumpy, there were three mountain classifications – two in the third and one in the fourth category.
A breakaway group of eleven riders formed relatively early on, but they weren’t able to carve out a big lead. The favorites didn’t allow more than about a minute and so the project of this group was over long before the finish – 53 kilometers before the end the top riders were back in front.
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Bauernfeind pulls away on the mountain
With 36 kilometers to go, Bauernfeind launched a strong attack. On the way to the Cote de Laguepie she started and pulled away together with Claire Steels. Shortly before the mountain classification, Bauernfeind also broke away from her companion, scored the points and extended her lead on the following descent. She went over half a minute quite quickly – mainly because the group around the yellow jersey did not see her as a threat to the overall standings.
With a deficit of 2:26 minutes, Bauernfeind was in 18th place before the stage, and while she was fighting for every second at the front, the riders around leader Lotte Kopecky let her do it. And so the chance of the second German stage victory at this year’s Tour de France Femmes increased with every kilometer, after Liane Lippert was already at the top of the second stage.
“I attacked and didn’t think I’d make it that far. I thought I’d be happy if I could make it over the next mountain,” said Bauernfeind.
Bauernfeind has to fight for every second
On the descent, Bauernfeind extended their lead to about 1:20 minutes, after the last climb of the day 24 kilometers from the finish line it was even 1:36 minutes. On flat terrain with a short descent, there were many indications that the Canyon SRAM Racing rider would go it alone to Albi.
But after completing the climb, the peloton suddenly launched a variety of attacks, which ensured that the lead melted relatively quickly. There was still a minute to go with 14 kilometers to go, and a little more than half a minute ahead of their pursuers, Bauernfeind was ahead when there were still five kilometers to go.
Lippert almost ensures a German double victory
The peloton didn’t manage to get closer to the leaders in this phase – and then another German attacked successfully. On the side of Marlen Reusser, Lippert was able to pull away a little. She was no longer able to keep up with Bauernfeind, who was able to save a lead of 25 seconds and celebrate her greatest career success. In the sprint, Lippert also had to admit defeat and ended up third.
“The stage was extremely difficult, I’m really happy for Ricarda. Two stage wins are great for German cycling and my third place is also a bonus,” said Lippert, who was able to gain a few seconds on the leader Kopecky in the fight for the yellow jersey . “I hope we can recover a bit tomorrow and then we’ll fight for the general classification.”