Crazy day on the cobblestones of the Tour de France with falls and favorites losing time.
At the end of a day marked by the cobblestones of the North and many falls, including those of the yellow jersey Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and one of the favorites Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), the Australian Simon Clarke ( Israel-Premier Tech) won the 5e stage of the Tour de France disputed between Lille and Arenberg. Belgian Wout Van Aert retains his Yellow Jersey for 13 seconds ahead of American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), the defending champion having taken time from all his rivals for the final victory.
The fact of the day :
Crazy step! These 153 kilometers between Lille and Arenberg will have done a lot of damage… At the end of the end, it was Simon Clarke (Israel Premier Tech) who went to raise his arms on the line, ahead of Taco Van Der Hoorn (Intermarché Wanty Gobert). In the breakaway of the day, the Australian maneuvered perfectly in the final by launching his sprint at the last moment. At 35, this is probably the best victory of his career.
As for the favorites, the Jumbo-Visma will have lost very big today. Its two leaders (Roglic and Vingegaard) will have lost time on Tadej Pogacar. Because of a fall for one and a mechanical glitch for the other. The only satisfaction for them was Vingegaard’s return to the Gaudu group in the final thanks to some sublime work by Wout Van Aert, who kept his yellow jersey at the same time. Tadej Pogacar meanwhile won everything in the hell of the North. Always well placed, the winner of the last Tour de France managed on his own and had the perfect race. He takes up a good ten seconds on his main rivals, and more than two minutes on Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) who is definitely the big loser of the day.
“It was a very good day for me, I had no bad luck and I felt good on the cobbles. At the end there were guys stronger than me but I tried to run smart. This step gives me confidence and a boost of motivation. I have good feelings and I can’t wait to get to the mountain. I like the cobblestones but 11 sectors is already good, a little more would have been difficult”, said Pogacar after the finish.
A very good Gaudu but no French for the win
On the tricolor side, David Gaudu (FDJ) made an excellent step by limiting the breakage on Pogacar and remaining in the group of other favorites. Not comfortable on the cobblestones, the leader of the FDJ only lost fifteen seconds on the line.
In another register, the French did not weigh on the race for the stage victory. Florian Sénéchal (Quick-Step) had bad luck when he suffered a puncture. He was the best French chance today. Note the beautiful place of Hugo Hofstetter (20e and first tricolor on the line). Nice performance from the Arkéa-Samsic sprinter.
Figure of the day: 2’08 min
This is the gap that separates Primoz Roglic from Tadej Pogacar on the finish line. On this 5e stage, it was indeed the leader of the Jumbo-Visma who was the big loser of the day. Victim of a fall, the Slovenian would have some shoulder problems…
Tweet of the day:
Delayed by a mechanical problem, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) struggled to be repaired quickly. Far from his car, the Dane tried everything to leave as quickly as possible, including taking his teammates’ bikes. Bad luck for him, these weren’t at all his size… This gives quite funny images for us, much less for the runner…
Statement of the day:
Simon Clarke, winner of this 5th stage: “It’s the best victory of my career. I had other successes but to win here is just amazing. To be honest, I didn’t imagine doing a performance today on the cobblestones, which are not my specialty. But my manager told me today was my day for the breakaway so I went for it. Neilson Powless was strong all day but you had to be heartless. I held back, waited until the last moment and finally threw my bike with all my might. I didn’t think I won even after the line so I still find it hard to believe. »
Picture of the day:
The fall of the yellow jersey even before the cobbles. Wout Van Aert got a good one! A few kilometers before the first cobbled section of the day (Villiers-au-Tertre to Fressain), the Belgian fell at low speed but was badly damaged on the left side. His teammate Steven Kruijswijk was also down. A few kilometers further on, Wout Van Aert almost made a mistake again after a moment of inattention. The DSM squad car had to brake, the yellow jersey was in its path and had an incredible reflex to dodge it.
The classification of the 5th stage:
1 – CLARKE Simon (Israel – Premier Tech) the 157 km in 3:13:35
2 – VAN DER HOORN Taco (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert) mt
3 – BOASSON HAGEN Edvald (TotalEnergies) + 0:02
4 – POWLESS Neilson (EF Education-EasyPost) +0:04
5 – CORT Magnus (EF Education-EasyPost) + 0:30
6 – STUYVEN Jasper (Trek – Segafredo) +0:51
7 – POGAČAR Tadej (UAE Team Emirates) mt
8 – PHILIPSEN Jasper (Alpecin-Deceuninck) + 1:04
9 – JAKOBSEN Fabio (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) mt
10 – MOZZATO Luca (B&B Hotels – KTM) mt
The general classification after the 5th stage:
1. Wout van Aert (Belgium / Jumbo-Visma) in 16h17’22”
2. Neilson Powless (USA/EF Education EasyPost) at 13”
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway/TotalEnergies) at 14”
4. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia/UAE Team Emirates) at 19”
5. Yves Lampaert (Belgium/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) at 25”
6. Mads Pedersen (Denmark/Trek-Segafredo) at 36”
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Jumbo-Visma) at 40”
8. Adam Yates (Great Britain / Ineos-Grenadiers) at 48”
9. Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain / Ineos-Grenadiers) at 49”
10. Geraint Thomas (Great Britain / Ineos-Grenadiers) at 50”