Primož Roglič’s Tour de France challenge suffered a severe setback after he conceded more than two minutes to Tadej Pogačar on the cobbled stage 5 to Arenberg. The Slovenian crashed ahead of sector five, with 29km remaining and he was unable to get back on terms with his fellow GC contenders.
It was a trying day all around for Jumbo-Visma, who were hit by crashes and punctures, but Wout van Aert managed to hold onto yellow by 13 seconds from Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) after an intense late pursuit, while Jonas Vingegaard successfully limited his losses on Pogačar to 13 seconds despite an untimely puncture and no fewer than three bike changes.
In the overall standings, Roglič is now 44th, 2:36 behind Van Aert and 2:17 down on Pogačar. Vingegaard, who was able to rely on Van Aert’s help during his frantic chase, managed to finish alongside the bulk of the overall contenders. In the general classification, the Dane is now 7th at 40 seconds, but almost two minutes up on his Jumbo-Visma co-leader.
Van Aert was the first of the Jumbo-Visma riders to run into difficulty on Wednesday when he crashed before the race had even hit the cobbles, and the Belgian never looked at ease thereafter. He was already caught on the wrong side of a split at the front of the peloton on the pavé when he was called upon to wait for his stricken teammate Vingegaard, who lost ground after suffering a puncture with 36km remaining.
Vingegaard conceded further time after making no fewer than three bike changes. He first swapped onto the bike of Nathan Van Hooydonck but the size difference meant that he was unable even to sit on the saddle. He then briefly changed onto Steven Kruijswijk’s more suitably sized bike, before the Jumbo-Visma team car eventually reached him with his own spare machine.
By then, Roglič, who had safely negotiated the early cobbled sections at the head of the dwindling peloton, was enduring difficulties of his own. The Slovenian crashed out of the Tadej Pogačar group just ahead of sector 5 with 29km remaining and he would spend the rest of the day in a forlorn pursuit.
Van Aert and Christophe Laporte led the pursuit in the Vingegaard and they found allies of circumstance in Ineos Grenadiers, whose leaders Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates were caught out. Their combined efforts brought Vingegaard back in contact with the bulk of the GC contenders before the finish, though the Dane still conceded 13 seconds on Pogačar, who had pushed clear of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…