2021 Tour de France stage 5 time trial - start times

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) faces a major challenge to his Tour de France race lead with a 27.2km test from Changé to Laval. The Dutch rider has surprised in the past, but is at a distinct disadvantage, having never competed as a professional in an individual time trial of such length.

The closest he's come was the Volta ao Algarve last year when he was 36th in the 20.2km ITT, 1:28 down on Remco Evenepoel.

However, the maillot jaune gives a rider wings, and as last man down the start ramp, Van der Poel will have a bead on the times of his rivals with a particular focus on previous race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep), who is the closest to Van der Poel at eight seconds and has a history in Tour de France time trials. In 2019, he held onto the yellow jersey thanks to a stage win in the Pau time trial, which coincidentally was the exact same length as Wednesday's test.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), is another rider who will challenge Van der Poel's position atop the general classification, currently fourth and tied on time with Ineos Grenadiers' Richard Carapaz.

Further down the list, defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) at 39 seconds will look to climb the rankings, as will Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) who are down 1:07 and 1:35, respectively, after crashes on stage 3.

Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Team BikeExchange) is the first rider down the ramp at 12:15 CEDT.