Jumbo-Visma had a wretched time on Thursday’s cobbled fifth stage of the Tour de France, having their two main GC hopefuls, Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, leaking some time to reigning champion Tadej Pogačar. There were several GC favourites joining the Jumbo-Visma duo in their misery, but it could have been worse for of Pog’s rivals. However, Roglič’s GC bid really suffered. Wout Van Aert managed to keep his yellow jersey, and Simon Clarke earned a big win for Israel-Premier Tech from the breakaway.
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The Course
Wednesday was all about the 11 sectors of cobbles totaling 19.4 kilometres of the final 55 kilometers.
Stage 5 of the #TDF2022 (Lille Métropole – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 157km) should be one of the most exciting, spectacular and nervous of the whole race, as the riders will take on a total of 11 cobblestone sectors, the last three of which come in the final 20 kilometers. pic.twitter.com/xXoWRTEL5y
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) July 6, 2022
The action was frenetic right from the start in Lille. Even though there were no categorized climbs on Wednesday, KOM leader Magnus Cort went out in the breakaway by habit, this time with two others. Cort’s gang received three more reinforcements including his teammate Neilson Powless.
Suddenly Van Aert crashed. He was with teammate Steven Kruijswijk but had to make his way back to the pack. Then Van Aert almost crashed into the DSM team car.
Toujours regarder devant 😱 https://t.co/rmt6AFuH0c
— Miroir du Cyclisme 🇺🇦 (@Miroir2Cyclisme) July 6, 2022
On the way back, the yellow jersey passed Michael Woods, who was trailing the field. Both rejoined.
By the time they hit the first piece of pavé, a three-star sector, the sextet had a 3:30 lead. Peter Sagan crashed just before the peloton reached the stonework. On the second, two-star sector, Quick Step applied some pressure. A puncture meant that last year’s fourth place rider Ben O’Connor had to chase back with teammates.
The Wolfpack going full gas on the cobbles!#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/QBBseXdHx5
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) July 6, 2022
The dust was unreasonable.
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 6, 2022
Chaos: Mathieu van der Poel dropped away. Van Aert…
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