As it happened: Sprinters finally have their day on Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage 5

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 5 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the race's one and only chance of a bunch sprint this year.

Racing starts in just under an hour, with the neutralised roll-out beginning at 1230 CET and then the racing for real at 1245 CET.

If you missed any of the action on Wednesday, it evolved into a thrilling bunch-v-break scenario, won by Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) from the lead move ahead of the main break:
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Quinn Simmons blasts to victory on stage 4 from 10-rider breakaway with peloton breathing down their backs

The overall classification didn't change that much, (and on paper today it shouldn't either), with Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) remaining in top spot after Wednesday's stage for a fourth successive day.

So what's in store for today? Well, on the official race route, today's stage is somewhat oddly classified as hilly, but in fact there are only two Cat.4 ascents, both in the first 10 kilometres, and a third Cat.4 mid-way through the original race route when published back in the day has now disappeared.
Most likely then, we'll see a bunch sprint, for the first and last time in the 2026 race, given what's come before and the three Alpine stages coming up from Friday onwards.

Here's a map of the same route, essentially running north and east for a fairly hefty 195 kilometre stage, the second longest of this year's route.

So who's up for the win today? Three options, as colleague James Moultrie pointed out for yesterday's sprint (which didn't happen, but could have) are Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos), Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).
To that, perennial allrounder Matteo Trentin (Tudor) is another possibility, and given it's that much flatter today, you could add an out-and-out sprinter like Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious). He's got previous, too, winning a stage of the Dauphiné (as it was then known) back in 2017. And here's a photo to prove it.

The peloton is now on the 5.3 kilometre neutralised section by the way.

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195.8 kilometres to go

And stage 5 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from Saint-Chamond to Parc des Oiseaux - Villars-les-Dombes is officially underway.

Three non-starters

Three non-starters according to the official race website: veteran allrounder Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), due to unspecified sickness, and Movistar duo Ivan Romeo, the reigning Spanish National Champion, and Ecuadorian climber Jefferson Cepeda.

Somewhat weirdly for a 'sprint stage', we're straight onto a climb as soon as the start flag dropped, the Cat.4 Côte de la Croix-Blanch (3km at 5%). Just one point on offer at the top of the climb for the mountains ranking.

On the subject of which, a reminder of who's who at the top of the different overall rankings:

GC leader: Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost)
Mountains: Clément Bras Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United)
BYR: Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost)
Points: Nadav Raisberg (NSN)
Teams: Groupama-FDJ United

Climb

Pepijn Reijnderink (Soudal Quick-Step) claims the lone point on offer at the summit of Cat.4 Côte de la Croix-Blanch.

He's part of a six-man breakaway that has formed early on over this climb. It contains: Reijnderink (Soudal Quick-Step), Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies), Julen Arriola-Bengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL)

Their advantage is already over a minute and fast rising.

The official race website reminds us that on the fast-upcoming Col de la Gachet, there's a monument to the late Andrei Kivilev. It has this to say about it:

"An early tribute to Andrei Kivilev

Twenty-three years ago, in March 2003, the Kazakh cyclist Andrei Kivilev lost his life on the roads of Paris-Nice during a stage heading towards Saint-Étienne, which he was due to finish on home roads as he was living in Saint-Chamond.
His death had a profound effect on the peloton and led to the rapid introduction of much stricter regulations on the wearing of helmets in cycling races.
A memorial has been erected near the Col de la Gachet (km 7.5), at the spot where the startline is marked each year for the cyclosportive organised in tribute to the former Cofidis rider. It was with the French team that he achieved his greatest success in Grenoble, winning stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2001, a few weeks before finishing 4th in the Tour de France."

Climb

The six rider break has now reached the summit of the Col de la Gachet (1.6km at 4.4%), and Reijnderink picks up the sole point on offer again.

The advantage of the six ahead has now risen to over 2:30. It looks like we've got the break of the day.

And here's a first photo of the half dozen leaders

180 km to go - 2:30 advantage for the break

The break's advantage is now stabilizing at around 2:30 as they reach the highest point of the hilly early section.

It's dry and sunny, incidentally, but not too hot, 20 degrees and set to stay at around that temperature for the next few hours. Wind a relatively gentle 16kmh, mostly crosswinds for the whole day and lots of changes of race route, so you can't rule out the chance of an echelon somewhere along the way...

Of the six ahead, the biggest 'threat' on GC is Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL), 15:00 down.So EF Education-EasyPost will do a lot of the early spadework keeping the break at a reasonable distance, and their leader Alex Baudin in contention, that size of a margin means it'll be up to the sprinters' teams to do a lot of the work in the second part of the day.

Their advantage has now dropped to 1:25 as Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis, the latter presumably working for Bryan Coquard, give chase.

The gap continues to fall as the six grind their way over a series of small but relentless climbs early on. There's 2,500 metres of vertical gain on this stage, and nearly all of it is in the first half of the day's racing, with around a third already covered.

Here's a shot from today's race of GC leader Alex Baudin, winner of stage 1 from a break and able to maintain his top spot through the first big GC challenge of this year's race, Tuesday's TTT.

Of the six ahead, Canadian veteran Houle is by far the most decorated, winning a stage of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees back in 2022.

More attacks in the peloton

Who said this was the break of the day? (Ok, we did.) Their advantage has now shrunk to just 25 seconds and more attacks are flying out of the front half of the bunch.

While we're waiting to see if the break manages to fend off the peloton, here's what one former multiple Critérium du Dauphiné winner (as the race was known) is up to these days:
Chris Froome returns to action in pedal boat charity race across the Mediterranean Sea

155km to go

The half-dozen are maintaining a scant 30 second advantage as they tackle a long section of downhill. Certainly nobody's hanging about - the day's average speed has been a brisk(given the hills in the first part) 38kmh so far.

Having shrunk to a bare 20-25 seconds advantage, after none of the counter attackers, including breakaway specialist Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto-Intermarché, managed to get across to the break, the six are once again building an advantage. At this point, 148kms from the line, it's ballooned to 2:20 and counting.

Given we've already had all the mountains points on offer, by the way, and the rider who grabbed the two available, Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep) is a long way down, assuming he completes the stage, France's Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ) will remain in the top spot overall in that ranking for a fourth straight day.

138 kilometres to go

The gap stabilizes at around 2:25. Puncture for Netcompany Ineos stage racer Carlos Rodríguez.

Another shot of the break

There have been mixed signals from Wout van Aert in this year's Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with a sluggish start then followed by a promising finish, winning the sprint behind the break, on Wednesday and a mixture of optimism and caution from the Visma-Lease a Bike man himself. Here's the latest on what Van Aert makes of his first race back since conquering Paris-Roubaix.
'I still need to improve a lot' – Wout van Aert realistic about pre-Tour de France shape despite positive signs in near-miss sprint loss

The peloton has covered nearly half of the 2,500 metres of elevation gain in today's stage, with just one lengthy, draggy ascent to go before they head out of the hills for good and the last 100 kilometres of much gentler terrain. The gap for the break remains stable at 2:30.

Today's finish at the Villars-les-Dombes/Parc des Oiseaux is Europe’s largest wildlife park dedicated to birds and gets 300,000 visitors a year. However, it's also famous for cycling fans as the place where Mark Cavendish took his fourth stage win in the 2016 Tour de France. It was the 30th of his career, ahead of stars of the calibre of Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan. But the victory celebrations were also marred a little by a protest from Marcel Kittel about possible irregularities by Cavendish in the sprint, with the result delayed before the win was definitively upheld in Cavendish's favour.

Here's our full report from ten years ago.
Tour de France: Cavendish wins stage 14 in Villars-les-Dombes

106 kilometres to go

2:10 the gap.

A reminder of our six breakaways:
Pepin Reijnderink (Soudal Quick-Step), Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies), Julen Arriola-Bengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL).

Visma-Lease a Bike's Bruno Armirail hard at work on the front of the pack

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Apart from that Tour de France finish back in 2016, the Villars-les-Dombes-Parc des Oiseaux has featured three times as a start and once as a finish in the Critérium du Dauphiné in the past. The only previous finish was in a TT in 2013, won by German time trial powerhouse Tony Martin.

The stage's one intermediate sprint at Blacé (km 108.7) is fast hauling into view. No time bonuses, but a useful haul of points in the green jersey competition.

2:15 the gap, so the six ahead will get the lion's share of the points.

Bahrain Victorious, working for sprinter Phil Bauhaus, are adding their shoulder to the wheel in the bunch to chase the six ahead.

The bunch clearly doesn't want to haul the break back in too soon, but the sprinters' teams won't want a repeat of Wednesday's scenario where they missed out - by painfully little - either.

Intermediate sprint

Arriolabengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)gets the maximum points with zero opposition from his breakaway companions as they trundle underneath the sprint banner at Blacé (km 108.7).

And there was no sprint action in the peloton, either, as Visma-Lease a Bike continue to tap out a steady pace at the front of the peloton, around two minutes behind the six stage leaders.

The three riders first across the line in the sprint were:
1. Arriolabengoa, 10 pts
2. Engelhardt, 6 pts
3. Reinderink, 4 pts
So no significant change for the points ranking, where (assuming he finishes), Nadav Raisberg (NSN) will remain the points lead after the stage, just as he has been since Monday.

81 kilometres to go

And the gap continues to slowly melt in the warm southern French sunshine, down to 1:41.

It may have a new name, but the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes still always has plenty of opportunities of classic shots of the peloton wending its way past some fast-ripening vineyards somewhere in southern France. Like this one.

Cofidis, working for Bryan Coquard - a veteran French sprinter, 55 victories in his palmares, but never a winner in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes come to the front of the pack to pay their dues when it comes to pulling back the break. And the gap duly shrinks a little more, to 1:28.

It wasn't very windy before (16kmh at the start), and it's even less windy (9kmh) now as the pack head onto the flat plains surrounding the Parc des Oiseaux. So despite multiple changes of direction in the finale, the odds of an echelon suddenly evolving are shrinking fast with each kilometre.

The break aren't giving up without a fight, though, and collaboration still looks pretty good in the six ahead, even if their margin for success, already narrow, is shrinking even more.

The Tour Auvergne-Rhòne-Alpes is never that favourable for fastmen, but last year there were two opportunities, which is double what's on offer in 2026: stage 2 bunch sprint was won by Jonathan Milan, while stage 5 's mass dash went to Jake Stewart.

66kms to go

And Cofidis, Tudor and EF continue to keep things under control in the bunch.

A pre-stage interview with Phil Bauhaus on Eurosport. has just been run, and the German sprinter, who hasn't won in two years, says that he thinks Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the favourite. However, he added that if he can get on Van Aert's wheel after the team drop him off at 500 metres, then he has a chance. Let's see what happens...

It's not just Bauhaus who rates Wout van Aert's chances either. Interesting to see how Visma-Lease a Bike are constantly putting a rider on the front as well. Likely a sign that for all Van Aert has been fretting about his condition, they are keeping the faith in him for today, too.

Well over 2,100 metres of today's total of 2,500 metres of vertical gain now behind them for the peloton, by the way, providing yet more encouragement for the sprinters.

55 kilometres to go

And the gap is now at 1:30. Just eleven seconds less than 25 kilometres before, so it's very much a holding pattern for now.

A very long, lined-out bunch is riding down very straight, flat roads, but despite the exposed terrain the trees and a few buildings currently lining each side of the road make it unlikely that what little wind there is will split the peloton.

The break is picking up the pace as well, with Reinderink doing much of the work.

44 kilometres to go

Despite the break's best efforts, the gap is tumbling slightly faster now, and it's now just a fraction over a minute.

That could be because Tudor, working hard for Matteo Trentin, are now also on the front of the bunch as average speeds now hit well over 50kmh.

You can see the speed here in the way the bunch is so lined out

The team cars are being pulled out from behind the break as the gap tumbles beneath a minute, always a tough moment for those off the front morale-wise.

29 km to go

And the six remain together, but the gap has now dropped to 48 seconds. A bunch sprint is beginning to feel like a forgone conclusion, but the six are proving very tenacious.

Ooh, that's interesting. For all the six have been out there for well over 150 kilometres, the gap isn't just holding, it's actually gone up again. Just from 45 to 51 seconds, but a slight boost to morale at this point in the game for sure.

One last reminder of the six riders in the peloton: Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step), Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies), Julen Arriolabengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL).

The terrain itself is definitely not favourable for the break mind, rather than anything technical, it's all taking place on a broad, well-surfaced 'A' road and the bunch can surely see the break ahead at times.

The weather is staying warm and dry, by the way, and still only 21 C at the finish, which also contributes to the high speed.

Lotto-Intermarché have also started to contribute and a major chunk of time suddenly disappears from the six riders' lead. Just 26 seconds now.

Current average speeds of nearly 60kmh on near pancake-flat terrain might have something to do with that, of course.

18.5 kilometres to go: bunch is closing in

Just 17 seconds left for the six ahead. There was a brief flicker of hope for the break when the gap suddenly shot up to 50 seconds, but that's all in the past now.

Reinderink is continuing to hammer on the front, mind, so the break is not going down without a last fight.

The break is splitting apart as Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech) sits up. Just five ahead now.

Is it so surprising the break are refusing to give up? To quote Bob Dylan, 'If you've got nothing you've got nothing to lose', and with the mountains looming, unless you're a GC rider or an out-and-out climber, this is very much the last chance saloon for any breakaways.

12 km to go: break over

After a last burst of energy from Guernalec and Dhondt and 170-odd kilometres off the front, the break is over.

Narrower roads than before, and the speed eases a little now the break is caught. A delegation of Visma-Lease a BIke remains firmly in place on the right-hand side of the front of the bunch, though.

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sits up, nine kilometres out. It's been a tough race for the Portuguese star, with no Tour almost a certainty and his targets now likely set on later in the year.

Race leader Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) is staying glued to his teammates' line of back wheels, about three or four riders back from the head of affairs. He's clearly determined to spend at least one more day in yellow.

5 kilometres to go

On the right, Visma; next to them a line of Red Bull riders; then Cofidis and Tudor; then EF. The tension is rising fast as the race moves into the final five kilometres.

Speeds of 55 kilometres an hour. Flat, well-surfaced and straight roads doing nothing to slow the pace.

Organisation website reports that Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) has got the most combative rider of the stage, by the way.

A sweeping right turn into a much broader road and Cofidis lead into the final three kilometres

Former Giro d'Italia stage winner and time trial expert Benjamin Thomas leading the string right now.

Two kilometres to go

Cofidis are still leading and keeping the speed high, but Bahrain and Jayco are close behind.

The road has broadened even more to three lanes and Visma-Lease a Bike suddenly pile on the pressure.

Final kilometre, Visma still leading

Three Visma riders leading but Ineos is trying to move into position too.

500 metres left, Wout van Aert on third wheel.

The sprint is launched, Wout van Aert is ahead and the Belgian wins!

Van Aert wins

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) wins stage 5 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Hugs and pats on the back for all the Visma-Lease a Bike team after the line and that's no surprise. This is Wout van Aert's first win in his first race since Paris-Roubaix and for all his doubts about his Tour de France form right up to before the stage, he's certainly delivered today.

And here's a first picture of the winner...

Van Aert truly left his rivals no option there: he was perfectly positioned on the righthand side of the road by his teammates in third place until about 250 metres to go, and then he let rip to win by a bike-length. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was right about Van Aert being the rider to follow, but the Belgian was in complete control all the way to the finish.

Top three finishers on the stage were Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike); Hugo Hofstetter (NSN) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), but really only one rider mattered today.

Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) remains in the overall lead for a fifth straight day.

Big credit due to all of Visma-Lease a Bike, riders like Bruno Armirail putting in loads of hard work throughout the day, but Eduardo Affini's contribution in the final metres arguably the most crucial ingredient of all.

Winner's words

And here's what the winner had to say: "Of course, winning is always nice and especially in a race like this, so I'm really happy with this stage win."
"Probably my shape [at the start of the week] is the same as it is now, but the last two stages were a bit easier and suited me with my current form."
"And I think it was a difficult start, even difficult today, sometimes it's painful with the crash I had before the race."
"But with the team I had around me, chasing the break all day, I just had to try."

Courtesy of FirstCycling, here's the top ten from today

Overall and going into the high mountains, the top ten on GC remains unchanged with Alex Baudin (EF Education-Easypost) retaining his 12-second advantage over Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos).
No changes in any of the other classifications, with Vauquelin still leading the BYR competition, Nadav Raisberg (NSN) on top of the points ranking, Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United) still in control of mountains and Groupama-FDJ United the outfit to beat in the teams classification. All of that, though, may well be very different after tomorrow's big mountain stage.

And here's a shot of Baudin in yellow, just as he has been all week.

Here is our full race report complete with results and we'll have news updates coming in throughout the evening, too.

Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Wout van Aert answers doubts with commanding stage 5 victory

So...what's on for tomorrow?

Stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes is the first major summit finish of the race, ending on the Cat. 1 Crest-Voland. Starting in Saint-Vulbas and 182.3kms long in total, the peloton will go over one of the more famous ascents in the region, the Cat.2 Col du Granier mid-stage. But it's the back-to-back Cat. 1 ascents of Côte de Héry-sur-Ugine (11.6kms at 4.9%) and above all the Crest-Voland (5.9km at 7.5%) that will act as the main GC sortout of the day.

So essentially what we're going to see is the first of three key days in the GC battle. The first big question is whether Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) can hold on to yellow, of course, but also it'll show us exactly who's up for fighting for the overall: can Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) try to go one better than his runner's up spot two years ago? Will Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) push for his third WorldTour stage race of 2026, after UAE and Tirreno-Adriatico this spring? Can Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) or Netcompany Ineos duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley make an impact?

Lots of different scenarios are possible, then, but what's for sure is Cyclingnews will have more live coverage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Friday, with racing starting at 1235 CET. See you then.