Vuelta - Another Queen of the Mountains jersey, with Alice

The good days keep coming for Mayenne Monbana My Pie! Stage 5 of La Vuelta Femenina was almost a carbon copy of the previous one. Once again, a rider from the French ProTeam was up the road and eventually claimed the mountains classification jersey. This time, it was Alice Coutinho who took the unofficial title of best climber. In the sprint, Justine Gegu delivered a strong 11th-place finish.

Mayenne Monbana My Pie wanted to build on its momentum this Thursday. The goal, clearly defined during the team briefing, was to make sure no rival rider could take the polka-dot jersey. First, Marine Allione tried to defend her jersey in style. Joined by local rider Justine Gegu, she was eventually caught by the peloton before another breakaway group went clear. In it was teammate Alice Coutinho. From there, the script almost wrote itself: two category 3 climbs, two first places at the summit, and the polka-dot jersey heading toward the Toulouse native. Tied on points with Marine Allione, Alice ultimately moved ahead thanks to her better position in the general classification, allowing her to take the Queen of the Mountains jersey from her teammate.

After the breakaway was reeled in, attention turned to the sprint finish. The entire Mayenne Monbana My Pie squad contributed to setting up Justine Gegu for the finale. On the slightly uphill finish, the rider from Méral sprinted alongside the world’s best and eventually crossed the line in 11th place. It marks her first major WorldTour result.

Alice Coutinho, Queen of the Mountains after Stage 5 : "It’s really special to earn a distinctive jersey in a Grand Tour, especially in my first participation. The goal was for at least four of us to get into the breakaway. No rival rider was supposed to take the jersey — we wanted to keep it in the team for another day. In the end, I was the one up front and I took the points at the top of both categorized climbs. I’m very happy the jersey stays with us, because it rewards our collective work. We’ll try to do our best tomorrow (Friday), but I think it’s going to be difficult after today’s breakaway."

Justine Gegu, 11th on Stage 5 : "I was next to Marine when the stage started. At that moment, we thought a two-rider breakaway could go clear, so we both went for it. We said to ourselves, ‘The bigger the move, the better the chance it works,’ so we spent a few kilometers out front together. Honestly, it was a really cool moment and we believed in it, but in the end the peloton didn’t let us stay away. Then came the sprint — you just have to switch your brain off. Some riders were dropping back from their teams, so it became really nervous. Unfortunately, there was a crash right behind me. You never like hearing riders go down behind you. Positioning was difficult, but I gave it everything. A slightly uphill sprint like that suits me pretty well. Finishing in the top 11 at the Vuelta feels great. We’re really in a great dynamic with Alice taking the jersey. Everything is going well for us."

Stage 5 results : 11 – Justine Gegu

59 – Karolina Perekitko

82 – Alice Coutinho

97 – Francesca Hall

103 – Marine Allione

104 – Léa Rondel

110 – Natalie Quinn

General classification after Stage 5 : 34 - Karolina Perekitko

42 - Natalie Quinn

68 - Alice Coutinho

73 - Marine Allione

94 - Justine Gegu

98 - Francesca Hall

104 - Léa Rondel

Photo credit : Eduardo Saiz