Stage 5: Pavé All Day
A battle-tested Simon Clarke (IPT) wins first Tour de France stage.
Veteran Simon Clarke of Israel-Premier Tech outlasts the competition on the cobbles and picks a winning, well-timed sprint line to outduel Taco van der Hoorn (IWG) to the line. Stage 5 of the Tour de France incorporated the cobbled stretches that the cycling world is familiar with from one-day classics like Paris-Roubaix. The uneven surface makes for sore backsides in a one day race, nevermind in the midst of a three week grand tour. Wout van Aert (JV) overcame struggles throughout to retain the yellow jersey.
Stage 5: the grey, numbered sections indicate cobbles.Anything can happen on cobbles, and everything did. The Jumbo-Visma squad, with enough firepower to control the race, blew up in a thousand directions. Wout van Aert (JV) crashed early and he was on rescue-duty for struggling teammates the rest of the race. Primoz Roglic (JV) crashed, dislocated a shoulder, and popped it back in himself against a spectator’s chair at the side of the road. The chaos cost him minutes in the GC battle. Jonas Vingegaard (JV) skipped a chain, which set off a comic-tragic chain of events as he scrambled with teammates to find a suitable replacement bike (before hopping back on his own). Watch the full video to appreciate the full madness.
Neilson Powless, the Great American Hope?Elsewhere in the race the wearer of the polka dots jersey Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF) remained aggressive, even though there were no King of the Mountain points to claim. He settled for the Most Combative rider award for Stage 5. Nielsen may have been riding to aid the GC ambitions of his teammates. Rigoberto Uran (EF) is the obvious GC hopeful, But the American Neilson Powless (EF) rode his way into the GC conversation, finishing fourth on the stage and landing in second place in overall time. Watch the American going forward, EF might have a difficult decision to make.
