Wout van Aert, in yellow, on the cobbles of northern France
(EPA)
The 2022 Tour de France has been a relative breeze for most of the riders so far, bar a couple of minor crashes towards the end of the sprint stages. There’s been Geraint Thomas’s unwanted gilet and Jasper Philipsen’s mistaken celebration, but most of the tribulations have been minor compared to what may be in store on stage 5, as the peloton takes on 11 cobblestone sectors which tend to bring no shortage of drama.
The route is a 157km ride from Lille to Arenberg Port du Hainaut in the north of France. An intermediate sprint early in the piece should bring the sprinters to the fore as they chase points for the green jersey, before the cobbles – or pave – begin. The same cobblestones which cause such chaos in Paris-Roubaix (dubbed ‘Hell of the North’ for good reason) could well claim abandonments as the riders travel through narrow uneven tracks at high speed. Most of the sectors are around 1.3km long and take around 2 minutes to complete, and the main overall contenders will make it their mission to avoid trouble.
Mathieu van der Poel is the bookies’ favorite today and with good reason, having twice won the cobbled Tour of Flanders. The man in the yellow jersey, Wout van Aert, won sensationally on stage 4 in Calais and will be a contender again here having won cobbled classics like Gent-Wevelgem, while Dylan van Baarle (Ineos), Mads Pedersen (Trek–Segafredo), Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) and Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step) all have cobble wins on their palmares.
Follow all the action live below.
Tour de France stage 5
In the end Vingegaard and Van A T only lost 15 seconds to Pogacar, incredible really considering the mechanical problem Vingegaard thought – that shows the power of a strong team to help limit the damage. They finished 1min 04sec behind the winner Clarke, as did Geraint Thomas and his Ineos teammates Adam Yates, Tom Pidcock and Dani Martinez.
Roglic, however, finished 2min 59sec down on the stage winner, losing almost two minutes to Pogacar in the GC standings.
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:36
Wout van Aert retains yellow jersey
And here’s how the general classification looks after that:
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:31
Simon Clarke celebrates victory
Here’s a very worthy winner, Simon Clarke, who earned his first Tour stage win today aged 35:
“After the winter I had, when I had no team, I think you’ve seen all year I’ve come in every race swinging, I just tried to make the most of every opportunity.
“The stages I’ve won in the Vuelta before were all in the first week, so this morning I thought ‘maybe today’s the day’. I can’t believe I got it on the line, Taco was well ahead, I was cramping in both legs, and I just prayed it was enough. I need to watch the replay, I can’t quite believe it.
“I moved to Europe when I was 16, I’m 36 on the second rest day, so 20 years, and it’s a dream come true.”
Simon Clarke, right, edges Taco van der Hoorn on the line
(EPA)
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:29
Tour de France stage 5
Here’s the final kilometer of that crazy stage:
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:24
Simon Clarke wins stage 5
Wout van Aert does just enough to stay in the yellow jersey, the only solace on a bruising day for Jumbo-Visma.
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:23
Stage 5 top five
1. Simon Clarke 2. Taco van der Hoorn 3. Edvald Boasson Hagen 4. Neilson Powless 5. Magnus Cort
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:16
Simon Clarke wins stage 5
In comes Tadej Pogacar, around 50 seconds down on the leaders. Jumbo-Visma are still another minute or so back down the road…
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:16
Simon Clarke edges photo finish to win stage 5!
The Australian veteran Clarke does just enough to round Van der Hoorn and edge him on the line! A photo finish will show just how close that was. What a finish. Edvald Boasson Hagen was third.
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:15
Tour de France stage 5
Taco van der Hoorn and Simon Clarke are scrapping for the win…!
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:13
Tour de France stage 5
Here they come towards the finish, it’s going to be a shootout…
Lawrence Ostlere6 July 2022 16:13