Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes was marked by a heavy crash involving several riders, including yellow jersey holder Demi Vollering and Sherbrooke’s Magdeleine Vallières-Mill. The incident occurred just over 6 km from the finish, as the riders exited a roundabout. Vollering struggled to get back on her bike and finished 50th, almost two minutes behind stage winner Bianka Vas (SD Worx – Protime).
As for Magdeleine Vallières-Mill, she was forced to abandon the race and was taken to the hospital, according to her team, EF Education-Cannondale, which was leading the team classification at the start of the day. The riders were sporting yellow helmets which indicates best overall team at the Tour de France Femmes.
Magdeleine Vallières-Mills abandons
“Following assessment at the hospital, it was determined Magdeleine Vallières-Mills sustained a concussion in her crash on Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes. She has entered our team’s concussion protocol. Her recovery will be monitored by our team medical staff,” her team posted on X.
Canada’s Simone Boilard (Uno-X Mobility) was also slowed down by the crash but managed to quickly remount to finish 49th.
Olivia Baril and Movistar team doing well
The Movistar team, which includes national champion Olivia Baril, saw two of its riders finish in the top 5 of the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Thursday.
German rider Liane Lippert, Baril’s teammate at Movistar, was the first to launch her sprint. Hungarian Bianka Vas and Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) responded and eventually overtook her at the finish line. Niewiadoma now wears yellow.
“Our goal today was to try to win the stage, but we didn’t succeed,” Baril said afterward. Another member of her team, Danish rider Emma Norsgaard, finished 5th on Thursday, just 8 seconds behind the leading quartet.
“I tried to get into the breakaway at the start, but there wasn’t really one, so it was quite disappointing!” Baril said, who crossed the finish line in 114th place. With the withdrawal of Vallières-Mills, there are now five Canadians left in the race.
You can watch the Tour de France Femmes on FloBikes.com.
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