Tour de France: Stage 5 — Greipel!

In yet another argy bargy finish with a crash at the front of the peloton with just under 3k to go, Andrew Greipel (Lotto) has won another stage of the Tour de France.

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Photos Rob Lampard (Velostars) – Click a photo to display; Use the left & right cursor keys to move between images; Click a photo to close.

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Previous Stages
| Prologue | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |

Yellow Jersey: Fabian Cancellera | White jersey: Tejay Van Garderen |
| KoM Jersey: Michael Morkov | Green Jersey: Peter Sagan | Team: Sky

This time, after being sheltered at the front for the final 20 kilometres, World Champion Mark Cavendish had no answer to the power of the big German Greipel who took full advantage of his team’s leadout. It was a close call for Greipel though with the break only being caught in the last hundred metres or so on the long up hill finish.

Photo Rob Lampard.

With just over a kilometre to go, the break of four, Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) still had 10 seconds lead after having played with the peloton during the second half of the stage and seeing the danger of the catch, Ghyselinck attacked and tried to make it to the line ahead of the sprinters.

He so nearly made it but after team Sky ran out of riders, it was Lotto who took up the chase of the leaders and gave Greipel the perfect leadout and he held off the challenge of Matt Goss and Juan José Haedo to take the win with Cavendish in fifth place.

“Again, I’m really, really happy. That was one of the hardest sprints I’ve ever done in my career. I don’t know how I managed to get back up to the front group because somehow I avoided the crash of Farrar. And then Henderson was waiting for me and the Lotto-Belisol train was working perfectly again. I think there was some good bike handling; you can see from the footage that Farrar did… well, I don’t know what he did – if there is no space, you cannot get through a gap.”

“But somehow I could stay on my bike even though both my feet were clipped out of the pedals. What can I say? It was just lucky. Avoiding crashes is a mix of luck and the efforts of my team-mates who try to make sure we are in the right place by riding in the front. “It cannot get better than this.  The team set up the sprint for me and I just had some power left.  On Monday the team already showed that we are there, that we are competitive and we can win no matter who is there. Today was a really nice sprint.”

It was  a crazy finish indeed! A long way from the finish, the sprint trains started to form alongside each other, lines of different team colours in single file across the road and the closer the riders got to the finish, the more crazy it go. Despite the wide roads, the bumping of shoulders got more noticeable and it got worse and worse as the speed got higher and higher until the pushing saw a rider from Garmin, Farrar, come down, taking others with him.

Greipel at this stage was behind that fall which shows how close to the front it came and it ruined the hopes of many a sprinter including Peter Sagan in the Green jersey who was not a happy bunny after the stage. “In the images it is clear that a rider is determined to go, and his move is what brought us all down. This should not happen at this point in the race. I am angry because I lost points. When I came to the finish I was not scared. What’s there to be afraid of? I was just angry. Then one of my team-mates, Sylvester Szmyd, lent me a wheel in order to race again. But it was too late to participate in the sprint.”

Photos brought to you by Velostars – Great t-shirts to celebrate Great British cyclists — makers of the Wiggo, Mark Cavendish (Cav) and Geraint Thomas (G-man the Penguin) quality T-shirt

Video Summary of the stage

Dave Brailsford: “After Mark got caught up in the crash yesterday, we decided that the risk of riding in that zone in the middle is too much. So we decided today to take it up early doors and commit the whole team and I think its easier to ride with a purpose, riding on the front with intent, with a purpose, is much easier than holding back and just hovering. We left the bus this morning with a real intent to to do that and I think the guys did a super job. Riche Porte, Froomey and Christian did a fantastic job early doors and Mick took it up and handed it it over to Brad who did a super little turn at the end where he strug it out behfore handing it to Edvald and Mark. Unfortunmately the stage victory didn’t come Mark’s way but credit to him for being there.”

“The way we rode today was the best way to keep Brad out of trouble and to increase out chances of winning. It’s taken a few stages to get that going. Brailsford then went on to say that there was no media blackout after Wiggins and Cavendish have not spoken to the press this week.

Bradley Wiggins: Talking on ITV4’s coverage, the winner of two major stage races this year explained why the team were seemingly more behind Mark Cavendish on stage 5: “As a unit, wanted to be a bit more present because it wasn’t necessarily about placing Cav today but also myself. I have been a bit caught up in the mess the last few days and obviously thinking of last year (Brad crashed out), it was a conscious effort that we have the legs, we have the best team here, or one of the best teams, so if we could use that a bit more and as Dave B said this morning, let’s not dither. It was nice to hit the front and open up a bit because you risk detraining a bit in this first week because it’s so easy in the peloton. You ‘re literally doing nothing at times.”

Result
1 Andre Greipel Lotto – Belisol Team 04:41:28
2 Matthew Goss Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
3 Juan Jose Haedo Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
4 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
5 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling @ same time
6 Tom Veelers Argos-Shimano @ same time

THE RACE

The chaos at the finish was a far cry from the rest of the stage where four riders escaped from the time the flag was dropped. The near 200km stage was expected to be a sprinter’s stage and after there had been no change to the top five since the 6.4km prologue on Saturday, no change again was expected barring accidents. The four riders in the stage’s break were Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and looking at them on the TV pictures, you’d be forgiven they were soft tapping along at club run pace when in reality they were quite probably playing with the peloton.

One of the director sportifs certainly felt they were with Aussie Alan Peiper saying as much. “They know that if they go too far ahead, we’ll chase fast and they’ll be caught. And they know if they slow down too much… well, they’ll get caught.”

The maximum lead of the quartet was 5’40” after only 50 kilometres and as the intermediate sprint approached, the lead came down as the sprint trains got going for a practice run. Whilst the break took the most points, Mark Cavendish showed that despite his high speed crash on stage 4, he was still in good nick as he beat Goss, Renshaw and Sagan to the line. Sky’s Sean Yates shed more light on how Cav was saying “he’s pretty banged up and his mashed up his hand a bit, just above the thumb and near the forefinger.”

The days break. Photo Rob Lampard.

“We’ll see how he is when he gets on the bike. I don’t think anything is broken but it is a little bit swollen. Otherwise it’s just the normal cuts and bruises, it doesn’t look too bad but he’s obviously not comfortable and it’s the same for Bernie [Eisel]. Bernie had five stitches on his face near his eyebrow; his sunglasses cut into his face so he’s been patched up.”

With the intermediate sprint done and dusted, the break opened up their lead again and even after 100 miles out front, and the peloton gaining speed with the sprint trains all racing alongside each other, the quartet out front was proving to be very difficult to bring back despite it only having a slender lead of a minute or so over the last 40 kilometres. As the peloton got faster, so did the break. Team Sky came to the front to protect Wiggins and Cavendish and Radioshack too did their best to protect Cancellera who was having to push riders away who got too close.

The Swiss rider has spent 26 days in yellow and tomorrow will spend his 27th day in the lead of the Tour de France, overtaking Rene Vietto’s yellow jersey collection and becoming the rider with the biggest collection of Tour leader’s jerseys for someone who hasn’t won the overall title. The men who have worn the yellow jersey for more than 26 days in the history of the race are Merckx (BEL), Armstrong (USA), Hinault (FRA), Indurain (ESP), Anquetil (FRA), Magne (FRA), Frantz (LUX), Leducq (FRA), Bottecchia (ITA) and Bobet (FRA).

The riders at the front of the peloton, like Cancellera, certainly had a lot of experience between them and few more than the likes of Jens Voigt and Stuart O’Grady who captained their team’s ride on the front. The big wide straight roads certainly gave the top teams room to put a train together to protect their riders. BMC protecting Cadel Evans down the right whilst on the left, Team Sky with Wiggins and Cavendish.

In between them Radioshack and Liquigas for Cancellera and Sagan respectively. The wide roads though didn’t stop the crashes from occurring and the helicopter shots clearly showed riders leaning on each other as they raced along at 40mph to the finish.

Greipel can certainly thank his lucky stars he wasn’t among the fallers having been behind the crash when it happed just inside 3k to go and with Kiwi Greg Henderson revelling in his role as Andre’s final lead out man, the big German who has shown his speed at the Tour of Britain, finally managed to sprint against all the best in the world and come out a winner…

 A record breaking ride from Cancellera

The yellow jersey Cancellera said after the stage “It’s always a pleasure to ride in the yellow jersey and, plus, to make history like I have today is pretty awesome. For us, it’s been a great opening for the Tour de France. Having done what we have takes a lot of pressure away and we’re almost at the second week and we can go in with a different situation – one of being almost relaxed, not having too much pressure because I think winning once and then having the yellow jersey for so many days is a great opportunity and we seized it and took advantage of it.”

“This is good for us as a whole team, it’s good for the sponsors, it’s good for cycling, it’s good for the supporters from all over the world. We could not have a better beginning than the one we’ve had. We do what we have to do and the rest is up to the sprinters teams. We always have someone up the front of the peloton who is helping and I think that’s is normal. Now we have another day in yellow and after tomorrow another phase will begin. The thought of actually winning the Tour de France is not realistic. The Tour is not what I have in my list of goals to win. The Tour is a dream and a dream is not a goal. A goal like that is something other riders have – from Fränk Schleck to [Andreas] Klöden, to [Bradley] Wiggins and Cadel [Evans]. I just live something else, I have the yellow jersey for 26 days now and that’s good.”

Stage 5

1 Andre Greipel Lotto – Belisol Team 04:41:28
2 Matthew Goss Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
3 Juan Jose Haedo Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
4 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
5 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling @ same time
6 Tom Veelers Argos-Shimano @ same time
7 Oscar Gomez Freire Katusha Team @ same time
8 Alessandro Petacchi Lampre – ISD @ same time
9 S̩bastien Hinault Ag2R РLa Mondiale @ same time
10 Yohann Gène Europcar @ same time
11 Bauke Mollema Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
12 Matthieu Ladagnous Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
13 Borut Bozic Astana Pro Team @ same time
14 Kenny Van Hummel Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
15 Egoi Martinez De Esteban Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
16 Janez Brajkovic Astana Pro Team @ same time
17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
18 Bradley Wiggins Sky Procycling @ same time
19 David Millar Garmin – Sharp @ same time
20 Michael Schar BMC Racing Team @ same time
21 Peter Velits Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
22 Andr̩as Kl̦den RadioShack РNissan @ same time
23 Gorka Izagirre Insausti Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
24 Tony Gallopin RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
25 Pablo Urtasun Perez Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
26 Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team @ same time
27 Christopher Froome Sky Procycling @ same time
28 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
29 Andriy Grivko Astana Pro Team @ same time
30 Daryl Impey Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
31 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
32 Fabian Cancellara RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
33 J̩rome Coppel Saur РSojasun @ same time
34 Nicolas Roche Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
35 Ryder Hesjedal Garmin – Sharp @ same time
36 Jan Ghyselinck Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
37 Tejay Van Garderen BMC Racing Team @ same time
38 Michael Rogers Sky Procycling @ same time
39 Koen De Kort Argos-Shimano @ same time
40 George Hincapie BMC Racing Team @ same time
41 Jurgen Van Den Broeck Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
42 Sylvain Chavanel Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
43 Denis Menchov Katusha Team @ same time
44 Vladimir Gusev Katusha Team @ same time
45 Christian Vande Velde Garmin – Sharp @ same time
46 Robert Gesink Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
47 Rein Taaramäe Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
48 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
49 Fredrik Kessiakoff Astana Pro Team @ same time
50 Chris Horner RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
51 Ruben Perez Moreno Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
52 Michele Scarponi Lampre – ISD @ same time
53 Robert Kiserlovski Astana Pro Team @ same time
54 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa Movistar Team @ same time
55 Pierre Rolland Europcar @ same time
56 Daniel Martin Garmin – Sharp @ same time
57 Gregory Henderson Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
58 Yukiya Arashiro Europcar @ same time
59 Simone Stortoni Lampre – ISD @ same time
60 Romain Zingle Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
61 Rob Ruijgh Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
62 Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling @ same time
63 Wout Poels Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
64 Fabrice Jeandesboz Saur – Sojasun @ same time
65 Cyril Gautier Europcar @ same time
66 Bram Tankink Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
67 Maxime Monfort RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
68 Marco Marcato Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
69 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte Movistar Team @ same time
70 Rafael Valls Ferri Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
71 Ivan Basso Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
72 Imanol Erviti Ollo Movistar Team @ same time
73 Martin Velits Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
74 Thibaut Pinot Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
75 Davide Malacarne Europcar @ same time
76 Lieuwe Westra Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
77 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios Movistar Team @ same time
78 Cyril Lemoine Saur – Sojasun @ same time
79 Marcus Burghardt BMC Racing Team @ same time
80 Guillaume Levarlet Saur – Sojasun @ same time
81 Frank Schleck RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
82 Jean-christophe Peraud Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
83 Johannes Frohlinger Argos-Shimano @ same time
84 Bert Grabsch Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
85 Sandy Casar Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
86 Arthur Vichot Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
87 Jurgen Roelandts Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
88 Johan Vansummeren Garmin – Sharp @ same time
89 J̩rome Pineau Omega Pharma РQuickstep @ same time
90 Dries Devenyns Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
91 Levi Leipheimer Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
92 Kevin De Weert Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
93 Chris Anker Sorensen Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
94 Nick Nuyens Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
95 Alessandro Vanotti Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
96 Giovanni Bernaudeau Europcar @ same time
97 Federico Canuti Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
98 Ruben Plaza Molina Movistar Team @ same time
99 Amaël Moinard BMC Racing Team @ same time
100 Yuri Trofimov Katusha Team @ same time
101 R̩my Di Gregorio Cofidis РLe Credit En Ligne @ same time
102 Christophe Riblon Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
103 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Pro Team @ same time
104 Jorge Azanza Soto Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
105 Dominik Nerz Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
106 Kris Boeckmans Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
107 Patrick Gretsch Argos-Shimano @ same time
108 Vladimir Karpets Movistar Team @ same time
109 Yauheni Hutarovich Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
110 Yaroslav Popovych RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
111 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
112 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
113 Maxime Bouet Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
114 Matthieu Sprick Argos-Shimano @ same time
115 Nicolas Edet Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
116 Julien Simon Saur – Sojasun @ same time
117 Anthony Delaplace Saur – Sojasun @ same time
118 Mickael Cherel Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
119 Vasil Kiryienka Movistar Team @ same time
120 Brett Lancaster Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
121 Julien Fouchard Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
122 Hubert Dupont Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
123 Jimmy Engoulvent Saur – Sojasun @ same time
124 Marcel Sieberg Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
125 Maxim Iglinskiy Astana Pro Team @ same time
126 Mark Renshaw Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
127 Sebastian Langeveld Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
128 Baden Cooke Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
129 J̩r̩my Roy Equipe Cycliste FDJ РBigMat @ same time
130 Andrey Kashechkin Astana Pro Team @ same time
131 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
132 Danilo Hondo Lampre – ISD @ same time
133 Roy Curvers Argos-Shimano @ same time
134 Yuriy Krivtsov Lampre – ISD @ same time
135 Adam Hansen Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
136 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
137 Jelle Vanendert Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
138 Philippe Gilbert BMC Racing Team @ same time
139 Blel Kadri Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time
140 Jean-marc Marino Saur – Sojasun @ same time
141 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
142 Vincent Jerome Europcar @ same time
143 Simon Gerrans Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
144 Christian Knees Sky Procycling @ same time
145 Christophe Kern Europcar @ same time
146 Francis De Greef Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
147 Pierrick Fedrigo Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat @ same time
148 C̩dric Pineau Equipe Cycliste FDJ РBigMat @ same time
149 Amets Txurruka Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
150 Daniel Oss Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
151 Kristjan Koren Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
152 Peter Sagan Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
153 Dmitriy Fofonov Astana Pro Team @ same time
154 Lars Ytting Bak Lotto – Belisol Team @ same time
155 Davide Vigano Lampre – ISD @ same time
156 Pieter Weening Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
157 Giampaolo Caruso Katusha Team @ same time
158 Marco Marzano Lampre – ISD @ same time
159 Matthew Lloyd Lampre – ISD @ same time
160 Tony Martin Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time
161 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
162 Albert Timmer Argos-Shimano @ same time
163 Karsten Kroon Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
164 Gustav Erik Larsson Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time
165 Thomas Voeckler Europcar @ same time
166 Yann Huguet Argos-Shimano @ same time
167 S̩bastien Minard Ag2R РLa Mondiale @ same time
168 Steven Cummings BMC Racing Team @ same time
169 Manuel Quinziato BMC Racing Team @ same time
170 David Moncouti̩ Cofidis РLe Credit En Ligne @ same time
171 Maarten Wynants Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
172 Steven Kruijswijk Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
173 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
174 Joan Horrach Rippoll Katusha Team @ same time
175 Michael Albasini Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
176 Michael Morkov Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
177 Stuart O’ Grady Orica – GreenEDGE @ same time
178 Richie Porte Sky Procycling @ same time
179 Bernhard Eisel Sky Procycling @ same time
180 Thomas Danielson Garmin – Sharp @ same time
181 Robert Hunter Garmin – Sharp @ same time
182 Jens Voigt RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
183 Sylvester Szmyd Liquigas – Cannondale @ same time
184 Luca Paolini Katusha Team @ same time
185 Eduard Vorganov Katusha Team @ same time
186 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo Movistar Team @ same time
187 Luis Angel Mate Mardones Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
188 Anthony Roux Equipe Cycliste FDJ – BigMat 03:01
189 Grega Bole Lampre – ISD @ same time
190 David Zabriskie Garmin – Sharp @ same time
191 Aleksandr Kuschynski Katusha Team @ same time
192 Brice Feillu Saur – Sojasun 04:07
193 Jonathan Cantwell Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank @ same time
194 Tyler Farrar Garmin – Sharp @ same time
DNF Marcel Kittel Argos-Shimano

Overall

1 Fabian Cancellara RadioShack – Nissan 24:45:32
2 Bradley Wiggins Sky Procycling 00:07
3 Sylvain Chavanel Omega Pharma – Quickstep @ same time 85
4 Tejay Van Garderen BMC Racing Team 00:10
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling 00:11
6 Denis Menchov Katusha Team 00:13
7 Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team 00:17
8 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas – Cannondale 00:18
9 Ryder Hesjedal Garmin – Sharp @ same time 58
10 Andr̩as Kl̦den RadioShack РNissan 00:19
11 Bauke Mollema Rabobank Cycling Team 00:21
12 Maxime Monfort RadioShack – Nissan 00:22
13 Janez Brajkovic Astana Pro Team @ same time 46
14 Rein Taaramäe Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time 44
15 Peter Sagan Liquigas – Cannondale 00:23
16 Jean-christophe Peraud Ag2R – La Mondiale @ same time 40
17 Marco Marcato Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team @ same time 38
18 Vladimir Gusev Katusha Team 00:24
19 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre RadioShack – Nissan @ same time 34
20 Wout Poels Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team

 

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