The place to watch the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is right here on SBS. Replays, mini stage recaps, highlights and live streaming can be found on the and the available for download on and .
It was another day for the aggressors on stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, with solo attacker Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) going clear with 39 kilometres remaining and and proving strong enough to hold off the peloton.
Bauernfeind found the perfect moment to attack, springing away up the road after the initial breakaway had been caught and the peloton had been significantly reduced by a series of climbs.
She got a lead of a 1’20 and with only Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) chasing her seriously over the final kilometres, the 23-year-old was able to become the youngest winner in Tour de France Femmes history.
"To be honest, I can’t believe it, it’s just incredible,” said Bauernfeind. “I had the support from my teammates, from the car behind, all the partners… Everyone helped me and supported us.
“It was an incredible team ride. First, we had to chase the breakaway because we didn’t have anyone there. My teammates did a fantastic job. Then, it was up to me, I tried to attack and it worked out. It’s fantastic. As a team, we waited for such a win all year, and now we did it."
Watch on SBS On Demand
Stage 5 - Full Replay - Tour de France Femmes 2023
A group of 11 riders went clear in the early stages of the route, but with a lot of teams keen to make the early move they were chased hard by the peloton, never gaining more than a minute’s lead.
The break was caught with 52 kilometres remaining and some attacks started from the peloton, but the only one that stuck was Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) who went clear with 39 kilometres left to race.
She initially had Claire Steels (Israel Premier Tech Roland) with her, but the German’s efforts quickly dropped her companion and she was solo at the head of the race with a gap that pushed out to a minute and 20 seconds.
The peloton had been reduced with the pace over the climbs, leaving just a group of 30 riders chasing down the solo attacker, with Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) doing the bulk of the work at the head of the race.
With 5 kilometres remaining and a ’35 second lead for Bauernfeind, there was an attack on the descent by Reusser, with only Liane Lippert (Movistar) able to follow. The pair cooperated a bit, but weren’t able to get close to the solo rider, and Bauernfeind won, with Reusser taking second and Lippert third.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) retained the yellow jersey as she sprinted in for fourth on the day, though teammate Demi Vollering, who started the stage in 2nd, lost 20 seconds after being penalised for drafting by the commissaires for an incident mid-race when she was returning from a puncture.
