Lorena Wiebes won her second successive stage of the Women’s Tour of Britain, dominating the sprint at Clacton-on-Sea on Friday.
The Dutch Team DSM rider beat world champion Elisa Balsamo in stage five.
Overall leader Demi Vollering of SD Worx finished safely within the peloton to retain the blue jersey and take a step closer to victory.
She leads Team DSM’s Juliette Labouis by one minute and nine seconds heading into Saturday’s final stage.
Wiebes is only the second woman, after compatriot Marianne Vos, to win back-to-back stages on the Tour.
Le Col’s Maria van’t Geloof came in third, ahead of Australian Chloe Hosking of Trek-Segafredo.
The final 155.3km stage runs from Haverhill to Felixstowe.
Results – stage five
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned/Team DSM) 2hrs 19mins 53secs
2. Elisa Balsamo (Ita/Valcar-Travel & Service) same time
3. Maria van’t Geloof (Ned/Drops-le-Col)
4. Chloe Hosking (Aus/Trek-Segafredo)
5. Clara Copponi (Fra/FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope)
6. Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita/Liv Racing)
7. Marta Bastianelli (Ita/Ale BTC Ljubljana)
8. Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spa/Movistar Team Women)
9. Amy Pieters (Ned/Team SD Worx)
10. Amber van der Hulst (Ned/Parkhotel Valkenburg)
General classification
1. Demi Vollering (Ned/Team SD Worx) 12 hours 0mins and 37secs
2. Juliette Labouis (Fra/Team DSM) +1min 9secs
3. Clara Copponi (Fra/FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) +1min 16secs
4. Amy Pieters (Ned/Team SDC Worx) +1min 19secs
5. Aude Biannic (Fra/Movistar Team Women) +1min 33secs
6. Leah Kirchmann (Can/Team DSM) +1min 46secs
7. Joscelin Lowden (GB/Drops-le-Col) +1min 47secs
8. Alice Barnes (GB/Canyon SRAM Racing) +1min 51secs
9. Chantal Blaak (Team SD Worx) +1min 52secs
10. Pfeiffer Georgi (GB/Team DSM) +1min 53secs
