Marlen Reusser will go into Thursday's sixth stage of the Women's Tour de France sporting the yellow jersey of the overall race leader for a second day.
Reusser took command of one of the circuit's most prestigious races on Tuesday.
The Movistar rider, 34, finished Wednesday's fifth stage between Mâcon and Belleville-en-Beaujolais in second place behind the 2023 champion Demi Vollering to maintain a 12-second overall lead over Vollering.
Canyon//SRAM rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney finished the 140km fifth stage in third place.
"I somehow made it," said Vollering, after completing the ride in three hours, 53 minutes and 54 seconds. "I think it was a relief after the finish line."
Vollering said the last four days of the race would be a fight
"Marlen has not won a Tour yet, and she will have to work for it. I'm sure it will be a hard battle, because she is not the rider who you can beat easily, because she is very strong."
The sixth stage will take the riders 153.4km between Montbrison and Tournon-sur-Rhône.
France's Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who won the 2025 race, finished the fifth stage in 19th place to lie 17th overall.
"There's no hiding from it, it's too much to get back by the look of it," said the 34-year-old, who has one last roll of the dice in the high mountains during the final stages of the 1,174km race.
"But I'm above all glad I got the time-trial behind me and my Tour starts now. I'll give it everything," she said.
The 2026 race finishes on Sunday with a 99.2km course around Nice.
