Ferrand-Prévot in crisis: the defending champion slips again in the Tour de France Femmes

The Tour de France Femmes continues to be an ordeal for reigning champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), who lost further ground on Wednesday's stage 5. The undulating and treacherous stage through the vineyard-covered hills of Beaujolais, with nearly 3,000 meters of elevation gain, proved simply too much for the French rider.

A year ago, Ferrand-Prévot was simply imperial, shaving minutes off her opponents and winning two stages on the major Alpine climbs. This edition, however, tells a completely different story: after losing over two minutes in Tuesday's time trial, the Frenchwoman slipped even further down the general classification on stage 5, dominated by a fiery finale won by Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) in a three-man sprint.

The day was aggressive from start to finish, with a large breakaway that included teammates from both yellow jersey holder Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and second-place finisher Vollering herself.

It was the Dutch rider's team that set a devastating pace on the penultimate categorized climb of the day, the Col de Durbize. French champion Célia Gery upped the pace with 31 kilometers to go, before Vollering herself struck, leaving Ferrand-Prévot behind. By the time the leading group crested the hill, a kilometer ahead, the former champion was already irremediably behind.

Eventually, Ferrand-Prévot rejoined another big favorite, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), and they were joined by the EF Education-Oatly duo of Cédrine Kerbaol and her teammate Noemi Rüegg , who had crashed shortly before. The quartet thus crossed the finish line 2:35 behind stage winner Vollering.

Both Ferrand-Prévot and Van der Breggen desperately needed to stay close to the other favorites after the gaps they accumulated in Tuesday's time trial. The Frenchwoman was the worst against the clock, losing 2:13 to stage winner Reusser, while former world time trial champion Van der Breggen finished 1:09, her team unable to explain this unexpected drop in form.

"I think the gap is irrecoverable," the French champion said bitterly, and with four stages still to go, including Friday's monumental finish on Mont Ventoux, she would truly need a miracle to even hope for a podium finish. Ferrand-Prévot slipped to 17th place in the overall standings, five minutes behind Reusser. Van der Breggen didn't fare much better, finding herself 12th, 4'04" behind.