18:26
This is the end of this live!
Thank you for following us and see you tomorrow for a new commented stage on leparisien.fr!
18:15
Russo: “I took advantage”
Clément Russo, combative of the stage: “I’m close to home. At first, I thought I’d do the sprint, have fun but it ended up in a breakaway… I took advantage. David (Gaudu) had a difficult approach to the Tour, with Covid, so we had to approach things differently, play the stages. As we don’t have any sprinters, we can have fun, we try to enjoy ourselves.”
18:06
Cavendish: “My family arrived yesterday…”
Mark Cavendish on France 2: “Actually, I’m tired (laughs). It’s my 15th Tour, it’s difficult and it’s a lot of effort to be at the start. I’m getting older, it’s hard to be in shape every year. But I’m surrounded in an incredible way. My family arrived yesterday, it’s good timing. A stage on the Tour can make a whole career but I’ve always wanted to win one more and one more.
(On his difficulties at the start of the Tour 🙂 You have to know how to get through. It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad first day. Life has taught me not to try to have an ego and stay in the peloton, but to manage and then seize opportunities. I’ll try again tomorrow, like in every sprint where we have an opportunity. It’s the Tour de France after all!
18:03
The green jersey for Girmay
With the points from the intermediate sprint and his top 10, the Eritrean takes the green jersey with 102 points. He is ahead of Mads Pedersen (94) and Jonas Abrahamsen (87).
17:59
Cavendish derailed upon arrival
Unbelievable: on the replay of the finish, we see the Briton’s chain jump as he crosses the line… It’s of no consequence, but it could have caused a fall.
17:55
Cavendish: ‘I can’t believe it’
Mark Cavendish, speaking to Eurosport: “I can’t believe it. Astana bet on me this year by taking me to the Tour. We bet that we could win a stage. We went looking for riders who know the Tour, we went all in, and it worked.”
17:50
No movement in the general
Pogacar retains his yellow jersey ahead of Remco Evenepoel.
17:49
17:45
The video of the final sprint
17:42
Pedersen crashed in the final
The Dane, in the background of Cavendish’s victory, fell heavily, without disturbing the sprint.
17:41
Cavendish sets all-time winning record
The 39-year-old Briton already had 34 Tour de France victories, as many as Eddy Merckx. With this victory, he is now at 35, an absolute record for the event!
17:39
HISTORIC VICTORY FOR CAVENDISH!
Incredible! The 35th victory of his career on the Tour de France for the powerful Briton. He is well ahead of Philipsen and Kristoff.
17:38
1km. It rubs against the red flame
Abrahamsen even tried the kilometer trick, but it went too quickly.
17:36
2km. Long straight line towards the finish
The Lotto-dstny are currently leading for Arnaud De Lie and are stretching the peloton.
17:35
4km. The leaders can get up
Unless there is a break, the times of the leaders will be standardized in the final. The sprinters’ teams are really leading very strongly.
17:33
5km. Pogacar well placed, Vingegaard too
The favourites are vigilant at the end of this stage.
17:31
8km. It’s a strong start at the front of the pack
Peak at 65km/h, the final packaging is approaching.
17:28
11km. The sprinters teams really in place
The first positions are occupied by Intermarché-Wanty (for Girmay), DSM (for Jakobsen, Alpecin (for Philipsen) and Astana (for Cavendish).
17:24
14km. The price of combativeness for Russo
The Frenchman was the first attacker of the day and was logically rewarded.
17:19
18km. Girmay temporarily green jersey
After the intermediate sprint, the Wanty rider is temporarily in the green jersey. But the ranking risks being shaken up at the finish.
17:14
22km. Kristoff is still hunting
The Norwegian is with a teammate, 30 behind the peloton. He will leave some strength in this pursuit.
17:11
25km. Laporte falls in turn!
The Frenchman was cut off and ended up on the ground. He sets off again, but the finale is decidedly nervous.
17:08
27km. Kristoff down!
Another fall in the peloton: Alexander Kristoff has just fallen alone on the descent. The Norwegian takes a while to get up but ends up setting off again.
17:04
31km. The sprinter teams have placed themselves
We can already see the trains of the main sprint teams, notably Astana for Cavendish. It’s hard to see anything other than a massive arrival now.
16:59
34km. Abrahamsen takes a point
The Dane strengthens his polka dot jersey with a point picked up at the top of the Lhuis hill.
16:56
35km. The escapees caught
End of the escapade for Clément Russo and Mattéo Vercher, who will have had no room to maneuver today.
16:53
37km. The Lhuis hill starts
The peloton arrives at the Lhuis hill (3km at 4.9%), listed in the 4th category. It will be necessary to start positioning itself.
16:48
41km. Less than 30 seconds…
Russo and Vercher are doomed, but will have fun until the end.
16:44
44km. The gap under the minute
The peloton did not relax after the intermediate sprint and reduced the gap to 40 with the escapees.
16:41
46km. Jackets are out
Some of the riders in the peloton have put on their jackets. The rain is getting heavier on the road.
16:33
51km. Pogacar was really hot
16:32
53km. The intermediate sprint for Pedersen
The Dane shot from afar to collect 15 points. Bennett, Girmay and Philipsen, follow him in that order. The fight for the green jersey is well underway!
16:30
54km. The sprint and the bonus for Russo
The Groupama-FDJ rider takes the points ahead of Vercher, without sprinting. 20 points for the first, 17 for the second.
16:26
58km. Pogacar came very close to a crash!
It was the yellow jersey who caused the fall by nearly hitting a sign. To avoid it, the Slovenian had to make a wave, which sent riders to the ground.
16:24
59km. Fall in the peloton!
A central reservation sends riders to the ground, including Pello Bilbao and Movistar riders. But it seems to be nothing serious, everyone sets off again.
16:20
62km. Still 2’30” for the leading men
Russo and Vercher get on well and maintain the gap… But unless there is a catastrophe behind, the stage victory is really compromised.
16:16
66km. Intermediate sprint in sight
The riders will soon arrive in Aosta, where they will compete in an intermediate sprint. Given the fierce fight since the start for the green jersey, several riders, such as Coquard or Girmay, should try to get the points.
16:10
70km. The peloton is climbing at a good pace
It’s stretching out a bit in the peloton. We want to take advantage of the climb to tire out a few sprinters. Evenepoel finds himself in a small break but will come back.
16:08
73km. The mountain point for Russo!
It’s completely anecdotal: the Frenchman had not yet scored any points in the mountain classification.
16:04
74km. First difficulty of the day!
The escapees, with a three-minute lead, begin the first difficulty of the day: the Côte du Cheval Blanc (1.5km at 4.6%), a fourth category pass.
16:00
78km. It’s raining on the Tour route
Rain was expected at the finish, but it finally arrived earlier than expected. The riders are soaked and the clouds are getting greyer and greyer.
15:52
83km. Russo narrowly misses
A short basketball break for Clément Russo, at the head of the race… But his bottle throw misses the basket. Let’s hope it’s not a sign of his escape.
15:48
87km. The Lhuis hill scares sprinters
The sprinters, including Mark Cavendish, must save their strength for the Lhuis hill, the last climb of the day, located 34km from the line. It will be the last opportunity for those who climb a little better, like Mads Pedersen, to get rid of a few competitors.
15:41
94km. The peloton is behind schedule
Riding at 38km/h since the start, the peloton is currently 10 minutes behind the slowest expected finish time. No need to rush if you want to see the end of the stage.
15:35
97km. It’s raining at the finish…
The rain is starting to fall in Saint-Vulbas, the finish of this 5th stage. That could spice up the finale a little.
15:30
100km. The road curves a little
After a long flat phase, the peloton attacks a false flat uphill section, not listed… But not enough to cause any gaps.
15:23
103km. Nothing to get your teeth into
For now, we are witnessing a slow procession of the peloton. It was the ideal stage for a nap.
15:15
107km. The gap falls below 4 minutes
The peloton no longer leaves a second to the escapees, who now only have a 3’48 lead at the head of the race.
15:08
113km. Van der Poel in a team role
The world champion is completely devoted to Philipsen’s cause on the flat stages. He takes turns at the front of the peloton and goes to collect bottles.
15:02
117km. This is the slowest stage since the start
Visually, no one seems to be pushing hard. The riders rode at 37.9km/h for the first hour, much slower than the other stages.
Context
