Tour de France 2016: Stage 5

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January 1 - July 24, Limoges, France, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of stage 5 of the 2016 Tour de France – a 216km medium-mountain stage from Limoges to Le Lioran.

 

Good morning and a warm welcome back to Cyclingnews’ live race centre for stage 5 of the Tour de France. We’re heading for the hills for the first real time in the race. The Pyrenees and the Alps come later, but the Massif Central is today set to provide testing ground for the peloton in what could be the first reliable GC indicator of the race.

Here's the profile

"The Massif Central is difficult; there are lots of small climbs, and loads of possibilities to attack. A medium mountain stage is harder to read and harder to control, I think, than the high mountains. More things can happen; there are three late climbs and there's going to be a real fight."

So, here we are in Limoges, and it's another nice day. Riders are signing on and going through their pre-race rituals, and they'll be rolling out in about 25 minutes' time. 

That stage profile gives some of the story, but for a detailed look at what's in store today, have a read of Stephen Farrand's in-depth preview. 

Peter Sagan has just gone to sign on - in demand, as ever, from fans and media alike. He faces a fight to hold onto the yellow jersey today. 

Before we get underway, a reminder of how the GC stands after four stages:

And a reminder of our jersey wearers - though many of these may change hands today. 

And they're off!

The opening kilometres of the first four stages have been fairly calm, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that trend bucked here. 

It's all together after 5km despite a string of attacks

"It’s going to be a crazy day," Katusha DS Dimitri Konyshev tells Cyclingnews. 

206km remaining from 216km

Jasper Stuyven clips off the front of the bunch, but only to collect the solitary point at the top of the fourth-category Côte de Saint-Léonard-du-Noblat. The young Belgian extends his lead in the KOM standings but there's a good chance he'll have to hand over the polka-dots at the end of the day.

We grabbed a quick word with Stuyven this morning, and he said he won't be riding to defend the polka-dot jersey today, explaining that he'd rather proactively go after a stage win than defend something. 

Still no one able to make anything stick off the front of the peloton. At the other end, Bora-Argon 18's sprinter Sam Bennett is yo-yoing off the back already. The Irishman has been struggling since suffering quite a nasty finger injury on the opening stage. 

More attacks, more reactions, and now we have a group of nine off the front with a small advantage. 

Here's the group of nine:

It looks like this could be it. This group has over two minutes, and counting, on the peloton.

Plenty of strength in this breakaway, and perhaps the name that stands out most is that of Rafal Majka. The Pole is here to support Alberto Contador but Tinkoff are also protecting the yellow jersey of Peter Sagan. Having Majka up there means that they won't really have to work in the peloton today, and if the break were to stay away, Majka would be a solid bet for the stage win. 

Majka, by the way, is over 17 minutes down on GC, so he's no threat to anyone in that respect. 

178km remaining from 216km

A swift pace sees the riders cover 44.4km in the first hour of racing.

We grabbed a word with Thomas de Gendt this morning, and he said he didn't know if this was a day for him to get in the break.

We spoke to Chris Froome about today's stage, and he said he wouldn't be surprised to see a certain Alejandro Valverde take yellow and begin a sustained GC bid.

The peloton, led by Sky's Luke Rowe, pick things up and start to manage the gap to the breakaway - currently at 6:40.

Could Greg Van Avermaet take the yellow jersey today?

145km remaining from 216km

'It's a bike race, grow up everybody'

The race situation is pretty sedate as riders enjoy the calm before the storm. The gap is holding at 6:45 with 40km of relatively benign terrain before the serious stuff begins.

To illustrate the calmness out there, the breakaway riders covered just 36.2km in the second hour of racing. That gives an average speed for the day so far of 40.3km/h.

Some action now in the breakaway, who are not working cohesively. Some of the riders aren't happy, and it's splitting up out there.

Grivko, Van Avermaet, and De Gendt have accelerated away, leaving the other six riders scrapping to regain contact. 

This new leading trio has 20 seconds on the rest of the escapees. This will probably come back together but will provide a much needed shake-up, and a reminder that a lack of contribution won't be tolerated lightly. 

Perhaps it won't come back together. Despite having double the manpower, the second group on the road is either not as strong or not as united - or a mixture of both - and they're ceding ground to the leading trio. 45 seconds is the gap.

109km remaining from 216km

Puncture for Eduardo Sepúlveda, who has teammates to help him back to the bunch. 

Ian Stannard is still driving things on the front of the peloton. Behind him is pretty much the entire Tinkoff team, with the other Sky riders behind them.

100km remaining from 216km

Intrigued by the 'equation' in that last tweet? Well, here it is. More details here.

Problem for Froome, who finds himself at the back of the bunch and scrambling to move back up, with Mikels Nieve and Landa having dropped back to help him. Stannard ploughs on at the heat of the bunch.

The second group of six continue to lose ground and now find themselves two minutes in arrears and with another hurdle to go on top of the climbs that await. 

Over 12 minutes now for Van Avermaet, De Gendt, and Grivko and they're hitting the lower slopes of the second climb of the day, but the first in the stage 5 endgame - the third-cat Côte de Puy Saint-Mary.

80km remaining from 216km

Luke Rowe continues to lead the main peloton, with a retinue of Tinkoff riders lined up behind him. With Rafal Majka up the road, Sagan and Contador's guard can maintain a watching brief for the time being.

The peloton crosses the mighty Dordogne at the Pont de Saint-Project some 13:25 down on our three leaders. There is no urgency just yet.

75km remaining from 216km

73km remaining from 216km

The gap to the chasing group stretches out to 2:30 on the climb, while the peloton is now some 14 minutes back.

71km remaining from 216km

Pauwels leads the chasers through the sprint at Mauriac, some 2:30 behind our trio of leaders. 14 minutes further back the road, meanwhile, Ian Stannard has taken up the reins for Team Sky.

68km remaining from 216km

And at that, Movistar send a rider to the front of the peloton to contribute to the chase. Valverde began the day 14 seconds off the maillot jaune, while Quintana lies just behind Froome, 18 seconds back.

Imanol Erviti's presence at the front of the peloton hasn't added any particular urgency to its pace. The deficit remains at 15 minutes.

Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) leads the peloton through the intermediate sprint, to pick up six points. The Frenchman came across the line ahead of Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).

63km remaining from 216km

Majka, Pauwels, Gautier, Huzarski, Vachon and Sicard are still conceding ground to the three riders at the head of the race. They're currently 2:43 down on the leaders.

56km remaining from 216km

Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) is the man currently setting the pace at the head of the peloton, and the world time trial champions efforts are beginning to make some inroads into the deficit, which now stands at 14:25.

50km remaining from 216km

5km to the top of this climb, and it's De Gendt who's setting the pace up front. Van Avermaet just tapping it out behind him. 

Back in the bunch it's Kiryienka controlling it for Team Sky, who have most of their riders amassed at the front. The gap is coming down as a result, and they're now less than 13 minutes in arrears.

We've just driven the final 30km of the stage, from the top of the Puy Mary climb, which has spectacular views over the Massif Central.

Predictions, please

Movistar decide to contribute now and put most of their team on the front of the bunch. 

De Gendt bags the two KOM points at the top of the Col de Neronne, Van Avermaet cresting just behind him. 

This time is taking its toll back in the bunch as a fair few riders start to lose contact. Among them are Mark Cavendish and Alexander Kristoff.

It's a striking view as the riders traverse their way along a road cut into the steep, verdant hillside. Pic from @letour

35km remaining from 216km

Poulidor on Bardet/Pinot and memories of his Anquetil rivalry, Martinelli on what it's like to manage Aru and Nibali, life at Cofidis without Bouhanni, video highlights...

Our three leaders are climbing again. This time it's the second-category Pas de Peyrol - aka the Puy Mary. It's 5.4km long with an average gradient of 8.1%. It's also sort of split into two, with the first portion relatively benign and the upper slopes particularly nasty. 

The Puy Mary stands at 1589 metres above sea level and, as our sister publication Procycling magazine tells us, the Tour has not been above 1,500m altitude this early in the race since 1979, which was probably the toughest-ever opening to the race, with three Pyrenean stages in the first four days.

The leading trio move on to the steeper ramps and Grivko is dropped. The Astana man really struggling. 

Meanwhile there's a rather large group dangling off the back of the peloton. Stuyven, Boasson Hagen and others in there. 

The second group on the road - the group of six- is starting to split up now, with Sicard and Huzarski in trouble.

Correction: it's Vachon who's in trouble with Sicard. Those two have lost contact and Huzarski, far from being dropped, is setting a really strong pace in that group that now contains four.

De Gendt looks really strong here. He's taking the initiative on this climb. Van Avermaet himself is doing an admirable job of staying with his compatriot, getting out of the saddle and managing his efforts on these steep ramps. 

Cofidis' Arnold Jeannesson - formerly a Thibaut Pinot domestique - is dropped from the bunch on this climb, as is Astana's Jakob Fuglsang. That tells you how fast Movistar are hitting this. The gap is down to 8 minutes. 

Sagan dropped

The race leader begins to wobble and starts to lose ground on this climb. The yellow jersey looks certain to be slipping off his shoulders. 

Vincenzo Nibali is also in trouble here. 

De Gendt takes the points once more at the top of the climb and the duo begin the descent. Behind them Makja breaks clear of the chasing group as they head over. 

Mikel Landa losing ground now. This climb - and Movistar's pace-setting - is really taking its toll. 

Roles are reversed on the descent as Van Avermaet takes the reigns and opens up a gap on De Gendt. 

The peloton come over the top of the climb and it has thinned out considerably. Only around 30 riders left in there. 

22km remaining from 216km

Our two leaders hit the Col du Perthus. 4.4km at 7.9%.

The peloton is 7 minutes in arrears now. Nibali 1:40 behind them, Sagan 3 minutes back.

De Gendt comes to the front once more as the road heads uphill but he continues to bide his time. He'll be aware of the need to get rid of Van Avermaet rather than take him to the finish, and this climb represents the last remaining steep gradients of the stage. 

It's not De Gendt who attacks, but Van Avermaet!

Van Avermaet won his first Tour stage last year and is well on his way to a second here. Whatever happens, it looks like he'll be in the yellow jersey at the end of the day. 

In the chase group Pauwels and Gautier begin to struggle. Majka leads the way with Huzarski.

15km remaining from 216km

Nibali is 2:45 behind the main group of the GC contenders. He's currently in a small group with Dumoulin and others. I guess that settles the Astana leadership debate. 

Alaphilippe is rocking and rolling at the back of the bunch as Sky take it up now. The Frenchman is hanging in there. 

Van Avermaet crests the climb and settles in for another descent, interrupted by a section of false flat. 

Majka tops the climb with Huzarski but they're 3:20 behind Van Avermaet, who isn't conceding any ground here. The peloton are 2:20 behind the Majka group now. 

9km remaining from 216km

The Col de Font de Cère is much more benign - 3.3km at 5.8% on wide, well-surfaced roads. 

Team Sky continue to lead the peloton of around 30, with Nieve on the front. They're 5:45 back on Van Avermaet. 

Van Avermaet has an advantage of 1:30 at the head of the race as he begins this climb, which winds up gradually - cruelly, perhaps. It's more of a leg-sapping drag but once Van Avermaet gets over it he can be pretty much sure of the stage win. 

Sky set a steady - rather than searing - tempo, and it's difficult to envisage anyone pulling off a successful attack from this peloton on the final climb. The last kilometre, however, is punchy, and may see some small gaps. 

Majka drops back to the bunch to slot in ahead of Contador. 

4km remaining from 216km

Van Avermaet is not just riding into yellow, but doing so by some distance. He was just 18 seconds down on GC at the start of the day and still holds over six minutes over the bunch here. De Gendt was 15 minutes down at the start of the day so isn't a factor. 

3km remaining from 216km

2km remaining from 216km

1km remaining from 216km

Van Avermaet enters the home straight, gets out of the saddle in front of the masses of fans and under the baking sunshine. He's still giving it everything here but must be loving this. 

Greg Van Avermaet wins stage 5 of the Tour de France

The Belgian cracks a smile, sits up, points to his jersey and celebrates one of the biggest moments of his career. The new race leader. 

Bardet attacks!

Valverde, Quintana and Pinot are alive to it, but there's a gap opening up behind.

Contador is distanced

Valverde hits the front as the group comes back together but strings out. Contador, who has had a torrid Tour so far, faces a real fight on his hands in these final couple of kilometres. 

De Gendt crosses the line for second

Final kilometre for the GC group. Valverde is working on the front with Quintana on his wheel. Room, still, for a late attack.

Contador has the last rider in the line in his sights. He's limiting his losses here. 

Majka drops Huzarski to take third but here comes the bunch.

Rodriguez and Martin lead the bunch home. They're mostly together but where's Contador?

Contador crosses the line and he has lost 15-20 seconds here. 

We're still waiting for Nibali to cross the line. You sense Aru won't be overly displeased. 

Top 10

General classification after stage 5

Contador rides back to his bus. Let the inquisition commence. 

"It feels great. It’s a dream come true," says Van Avermaet.

Contador speaks to a media scrum

Froome's reaction

Van Avermaet steps out onto the podium to collect the famous maillot jaune.

Van Avermaet holds a massive 5:11 buffer at the top of the overall standings. How long does he think he can stay in yellow?

You can read our brief report, with results and some photos right here:

Thanks to leading the breakaway over most of today's climbs, Thomas de Gendt pulls on the polka-dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification.

Want all the instant reaction from today's stage in one handy place? Look no further...

We grabbed a word with Richie Porte.

Sagan swaps yellow for green

Alejandro Valverde was part of a fearsome Movistar outfit today, the Spanish team setting a searing pace on the climbs and putting lots of riders in difficulty.

Have a read of Barry Ryan's full stage 5 report, peruse the full results, and have a flick through our photo gallery. 

What's in store tomorrow?

Contador fighting to keep his Tour alive

That's it from us for today. We'll have plenty of news and reaction coming soon on the site and we'll be back tomorrow morning for full live coverage of stage 6. Thanks for joining us today. 

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