Hello and welcome to our live coverage from stage 5 of the Binckbank Tour. Just to bring you up to speed, we have four riders clear with under 120km to go. They four leaders are Magnus Cort (Astana Pro Team), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Jonas Rickaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Julius van den Berg (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale). Julius and his friends have three minutes over the peloton.
Heading into today' stage, here's how things stand on GC:
1 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 11:48:28 2 Sean De Bie (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan 0:00:03 3 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:22 4 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:00:28 5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:30 6 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:32 7 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36 8 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:37 9 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:41 10 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
This should be another stage for the sprinters but we've been saying that for the last two days and they've been collectively foiled on both occasions. Surely they'll get it right this time?
Jonas Rickaert is the best placed rider on GC. He's 1;11 off Mohoric's leaders jersey coming into the stage. Bahrain don't have a super strong team here but they'll rely on the sprinters' teams to keep the break under control.
110km remaining from 204km
110km to go and the lead is at 3'10 with the break heading through the feedzone.
Yesterday Stuyen took the win after an excellent set up from his Trek Segafredo teammates. You can read all about it, in our stage 4 race preview. Click here. Right here.
There's a fair amount of news to chug through this morning but we start with confirmation that Peter Sagan will start the Vuelta later this month. Sagan again Viviani should be a decent contest in the sprints, for sure. Read about the world champion, right here.
The Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas, will make his return to racing later this month too, in Germany. He's also down for the Tour of Britain in September, where he and Chris Froome will be hugely popular on home roads. Thomas also has a velodrome named after him.... here's our story on that.
Some exclusive comments here from Kittel who doesn't care what people think about him. The German has really struggled this year with just two wins under his belt and the last of them back in the spring. The Tour de France was a washout and he needs to deliver because Katusha as a collective have been woeful this season. Here's our short news item/interview with Kittel.
105km remaining from 204km
105km to go and the gap to the four leaders is holding at 3 minutes.
Another under performing sprinter is Caleb Ewan, although to be fair to him, the Australian wasn't even taken to the Tour de France this year. Again, we spoke to him at the race. He has a few more goals this season before he moves to Lotto Soudal in the winter. Read about Ewan, and his thoughts on the Tour non-selection here. This might have been his first interview since July.
And on the subject of riders moving teams, here's our huge transfer index. It's got every WorldTour move (that's been confirmed).
Julius van den Berg went on the attack late on in stage 4 and he's at it again today. He moved into WorldTour in July from SEG and has settled well with EF so far. Unlike most of his new teammates he's won a race this year - the national U23 title - and he looks like a really promising rider. He was also second at the U23 Paris-Roubaix earlier this year. EF managed to get him on a 2.5 year contract as well.
Julius van den Berg went on the attack late on in stage 4 and he's at it again today. He moved into WorldTour in July from SEG and has settled well with EF so far. Unlike most of his new teammates he's won a race this year - the national U23 title - and he looks like a really promising rider. He was also second at the U23 Paris-Roubaix earlier this year. EF managed to get him on a 2.5 year contract as well.
100km remaining from 204km
Roughly at the half-way point in the stage and the gap is still holding at 3 minutes.
Our latest film Running with Wolves, follows Quick-Step Floors during the Tour de France. You can rent/download it, right here. It's all exclusive and behind the scenes footage. Here's a link to watch the trailer.
75km remaining from 204km
75km to go in the stage and the bunch have pulled the break back to 2:25. It's looking and more and more like a stage for the sprinters.
There's no real pressure from the peloton at the moment but they're slowly asserting their control over the break, and the gap is down to 2:20. The four leaders continue to share the workload but it's only a matter of time before the bunch make the juncture. We may, however, see the peloton hold the gap at 2:00 and then increase the pace in the final 30km.
The biggest transfer news from the last few days was probably Niki Terpstra's move to Direct Energie...
The Flanders and Paris-Roubaix winner was talking to a number of teams during the last few months but Quick-Step couldn't make him the financial offer he was looking for and he's gone to another team. Here's the news.
Did you know?
A stage finished in Laneken last year. Ed Theuns won on that occasion. When a stage finished there in 2016 - the race was known as the Eneco Tour then - Luka Pibernik won. Gripping stuff, I know.
52km remaining from 204km
On the front at the moment, Bahrain Merida with 53km to go. Three laps at the finish of 10km circuits. The gap to the break is down to 1'54.
As predicted the bunch has eased up slightly and the gap has moved back out to 2'19.
And now LottoNL Jumbo have been ushered to the front of the peloton with just over 50km to go. The Dutch team have posted just one rider there for now, but the rest of the team are sitting just behind Bahrain Merida and race leader Mohoric.
The leaders now have 2'38 on the bunch, with 43km to go. Gougeard takes another long turn on the front, with Cort on his wheel.
There's been a crash and several riders are down. Team Sky have Doull on the ground. Curvers is looking for a new bike, and Dimension Data have been held up as well.
Doull has sat up. And he's now on his bike after a brief bit of medical attention.
38km remaining from 204km
The gap to the break has moved to 2'46 with 38km to go. Tuft is on the front now for Mitchelton Scott. The Australian team will be looking to set up Ewan for the stage after he was second yesterday.
A problem for Kittel but he's being brought back to the peloton by his team. 34km to go.
Tuft is still on the front at the moment and setting the pace for the main field. The gap, however, is still at 2'43. Are the peloton going to foiled yet again.
You can't fault Bahrain Merida. They kept the break at a reasonable two minutes but the sprinters' teams aren't doing enough at the moment. The race lead could even change today...
The gap isn't coming down and with 31km to go the gap is still at 2'42.
27km remaining from 204km
27km and the bunch have only managed to take 10 seconds off the break's advantage. The gap currently stands at 2:30.
Bora have now hit the panic button and hit the front as well but there's only so much room for sprint teams on the front. There's real intent here but they're no bringing this back quick enough. Tuft takes over once more and churns that huge gear. 2'28 with 25km to go.
22km to go and the gap is still at 2'18. This is touch and go but I think the bunch still have the advantage but they need to really make inroads now.
Lotto Soudal, Sunweb.. more and more teams join the chase and the gap is now at 2'01 with 18km to go.
Now passing off live to Patrick Fletcher for the final 16km of today's stage. Binckbye.
Binckhello? 15km to go and the gap still stands at 2 minutes. It looks like yet another upset for the sprinters.
Lotto Soudal come to the front of the peloton now.
Oliver Naesen is never far from the front of the bunch. The Belgian isn't doing any work, instead being a disruptive presence to give his teammate Gougeard up the road the best chance of success.
12km remaining from 204km
12 to go and the breakaway riders are on their way to the finish line again, with one lap remaining. 1:52 the gap.
Gougeard leads them through the home straight for the penultimate time. The bell rings out, and belief rings out.
10km remaining from 204km
And now the peloton comes across the finish line, 1:45 in arrears.
There are still people riding on the front of the bunch - Ventoso at the moment for BMC - but they're not doing much damage to the break. They barely gained half a minute on that last lap.
9km remaining from 204km
Some possible issues with the live timing as the gap plummets down to 1:20.
Ryan Mullen hits the front for Trek.
There's not enough sustained commitment here in the chase.
8km remaining from 204km
Kittel's teammate Alex Dowsett now does his share, but the gap is creeping up again. 1:30.
The breakaway riders are still collaborating smoothly, but when will they start attacking each other? Magnus Cort is the strongest sprinter and the others will surely feel they have to attack and drop the Astana man if they are to stand any chance of winning.
Dowsett is still on the front of the bunch. He's not getting anyone volunteering to come through for a turn. The gap's going out again - 1:32.
In fact, the forces at the head of the bunch are predominantly disruptive ones. Topsport and AG2R are right up there and have no interest in this coming back.
Puncture for Rickaert! And a crash!
The Topsport rider has a flat and the team car overtakes him and brakes hard, and he can't stop quickly enough and hits the back of the car.
Gutting for Rickaert. He's ok - it wasn't a hard collision - but he's out of the equation now.
Stybar attacks from the bunch.
4km remaining from 204km
4km to go and the three leaders have 1:25 over the bunch.
Stybar is going hard but Trek are chasing behind.
Magnus Cort tightens his shoes...
Trek are piling on the pressure now as Stuyven accelerates.
2km remaining from 204km
2km to go and this is most definitely going to go to the break. They're still doing long turns.
Stuyven's acceleration draws Lampaert out. And now Van Avermaet attacks.
The sprinters know it's over, but the Classics specialists and GC hopefuls are now trading blows.
1km remaining from 204km
Here we go then. Flamme rouge...
The breakaway riders now ease up and start looking at each other.
Cort is on the front. Then Van den Berg, then Gougeard.
Cort looks over his shoulder. And again.
Gougeard goes but Cort sees it instantly.
Cort on the front and in full flow
Cort wins it!
Van den Berg gets second, and runs Cort very very close. What a day for the EF stagiaire.
Gougeard is a more distant third, while Rickaert comes home half a minute later, shaking his head.
No gaps in the peloton.
That's Cort's fourth victory of the year, in what is a fine first season at Astana.
Magnus Cort has just given his winner's TV interview, and the headline is that he defied team orders to be in the break
"My directors looked strange at me when they came up in the car at the beginning," he reveals. "They said 'what are you doing here? You're supposed to do the lead-out for [Riccardo] Minali in the sprint'. But now i'm here, with a win, it's amazing."
Top 10
1 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 4:39:50 2 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF-Education First Drapac 3 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 4 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:29 5 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:33 6 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 7 Florian Senechal (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 8 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 9 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 10 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
More from the winner...
"It's amazing. I didn't really believe it when I first went in the break, but if you don't try you're not going to win. To be able to keep the gap to the bunch is amazing. Already they succeeded two days ago so for sure the sprint teams were aware. So they didn't give it much chance, then maybe made us ride easy enough in the beginning to save the legs for the last one hour and twenty, where we went full gas.
"When we got into the laps we could see they were not eating into our gap, and when we got round the first one, with three to go, and we had 2:45, I thought 'ok it's technical, it's not easy to chase. We had four good guys, we had good work going, all committed 100 per cent, otherwise you don't succeed."
