Tour de France stage 5 Live - GC carnage on the cobbles

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 5 of the Tour de France.

Welcome to what should be a thrilling day of the Tour de France and one which could have a big impact on the overall standings, as the riders take on some of the famous cobbles of Paris-Roubaix along their route from Lille to Arenberg.

The race is due to roll out of Lille in around 20 minutes, with kilometre zero at Lille Métropole at 14.00 CEST (13.00 BST).

With the race due to set off shortly, let's recap the GC standings, on a day which will almost certainly see them shaken up and reorganised.

Wout van Aert wears the yellow jersey for the third day, leading the overall classification by 0.25 following his blistering attack off the final climb in yesterday's stage to Calais.

In second place is Yves Lampaert (25" back) and in third Tadej Pogačar at 32", who is the first of the true GC contenders.

Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) wears the green jersey on behalf of Wout van Aert, and Tadej Pogačar retains the young riders' white jersey. Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) keeps hold of the polka dot jersey while Anthony Perez (Cofidis) wears the red combativity dossard after his role in yesterday's breakaway.

The riders are off and riding through the centre of Lille, on their way to kilometre zero.

Today's stage is 157km long. It features 79.7km of gently rolling terrain before the first of eleven cobbled sectors tests the riders. These sectors will be familiar to many cycling fans from watching Paris-Roubaix, although perhaps the two most infamous sectors - Carrefour de l'Arbre and Trouée d'Arenberg - do not feature, despite the race finish being in Arenberg itself.

Peter Sagan suffers a mechanical issue during the early stages of the départ fictif but it's quickly resolved and he's back on his way.

Today is expected to be the first stage that could really affect the GC standings. With plenty of hazards and tension high in the bunch, it will be a nervous day and the chance of crashes is high by comparison to previous stages. 

The cobbled specialists who have GC hopefuls within their squads will be tasked with ushering them safely through the pavé sectors, which total 19.4km of the stage.

A coming together slows the peloton down, and some riders take comfort breaks as the bunch regroups. There is still 2.3km remaining to flag drop.

It's been 4 years since the cobbles last featured in the Tour de France. On that occasion, the finish was in Roubaix, and the race was won by John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), with Greg van Avermaet second. The next five finishers that day are all present this year - Yves Lampaert, Phillippe Gilbert, Peter Sagan, Jasper Stuyven and Bob Jungels.

There has been one late change to the route: the first cobbled sector - sector 11 - will be ridden in reverse.

Christian Prudhomme waves his flag and the race begins. 

Right away, there is a sense of tension at the front of the bunch.

The first move of the day goes as three riders try their luck - Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Total Direct Energies).

The peloton aren't ready to let this move get away, with plenty of other riders interested in being a part of the early break.

The three leaders maintain a narrow lead for now.

The three leaders slowly begin to open up the gap to the bunch. Cort, van der Hoorn and Boasson Hagen have just 13" of breathing room for now.

More attacks begin to come from the bunch, though.

A group of around twelve riders has detached itself from the peloton and is trying to bridge the gap to the front three. The rest of the bunch are stretched right out along the road. This one could take some time to settle.

The roads twist and turn slowing things down at the back of the bunch and causing further splits in the peloton.

148km to go

Still we have no calming of the situation as riders fly through the towns and there is a sense of panic as the peloton is completely strung out.

The front group have 15" over the yellow jersey as it stands.

Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) escapes the bunch and makes an attempt to reach the front group.

145km to go

A group of three riders is in pursuit of the front group - Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels) and Simon Clarke (Israel-PremierTech) who has made it across after breaking out on his own.

Powless, Clarke and Gougeard are currently 27" behind the leading group of three - Cort, van der Hoorn and Boasson Hagen. The leaders now have 42" over the bunch, who seem to be settling down after a frenetic start.

Max Walscheid (Cofidis) comes down and has to wait for a new bike, although he seems to be physically unharmed.

Walscheid went head over heels on his bike, miraculously managing not to bring down anyone else around him. 

He's now on a new bike and chasing back on.

A rider from Lotto Soudal tried to get away but looks to be dropping back to the bunch once again.

The peloton appears to be back together although the pace remains high.

The front group now has a lead of 1'05" with 22" back to the second group of three.

140km to go

Prior to the race, Mathieu van der Poel expressed his interest in trying to fight for the yellow jersey on this stage. Without a GC leader, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider, who came third at Paris-Roubaix in 2021, is one of the hot favourites for today's stage win.

Before the stage, however, he expressed some reservations about his condition, saying he didn't feel he had the legs. 'I like to ride offensively but you need to have the legs to do that. I don't have them right now.'

A mechanical issue for Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën). He chases back on to the back of the peloton.

The two front groups have united and are working well together as a leading group of six: Cort and Powless of EF, who are the only team to have two riders in the front group, Boasson Hagen, van der Hoorn, Gougeard and Clarke.

The gap opens out to two minutes as the tension in the peloton eases momentarity.

130km to go

There's a slight lull in the action as the break settles into a rhythm and the peloton regroups. As a reminder, the first cobbled sector is at 79.9km, so around halfway through the stage.

The six man breakaway builds up a modest lead of 2'50", bringing Neilson Powless into the virtual yellow jersey.

The peloton approach the day's intermediate sprint. 

Van Aert is brought to the sprint by Christophe Laporte, but Jakobsen rides past to win the sprint from the bunch, with Laporte denying Peter Sagan third.

There's been plenty of talk prior to the stage about the selections of bike tech being made for the cobbles. Jumbo Visma revealed they have switched to tubeless wheels following the incidents at Paris-Roubaix which saw their tubular wheels bend on two occasions.

Team DSM have confirmed that once again, they will not use their automatic type pressure technology.

115km to go

With 110km to go, the six-man break have 2'42" over the bunch.

110km to go

The gaps stays steady at around 2'40", as the cobbles draw closer. There is about 30km to go until we begin the cobbled sectors.

105km to go

The Tour de France paid tribute to the late Richard Moore before the stage start today. Family, friends and colleagues gathered to remember the writer and broadcaster on the invitation of race organiser ASO.

57km down, 100 to go, and the breakaway have stretched out their lead a little further. They are currently 3'20" ahead of the bunch.

100km to go

Wout van Aert is down! The yellow jersey has crashed. He seems to be nursing his wrist.

Nervous moments for the race leader and for his team as he comes down in a crash. He is currently chasing back on behind his team car.

95km to go

This is not good news at all the Team Jumbo-Visma. The team leaders, Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, are not cobbled specialists and are relying on Van Aert and the other classics specialists to guide them through the tricky pave sections.

Van Aert, riding with team mate Steven Krijswijk, are around 55' down on the main peloton.

Yet more nervous moments as Wout van Aert almost collides with the Team DSM team car.

90km to go

Less than 10km remain until the first cobble sector and van Aert rides alongside his team car, without company now as he tries to make it back to the main group in time to protect his GC leaders.

The pressure is building at the front of the bunch as the cobbles approach - there are less than 10km to go to the first sector, and teams are fighting for position already.

Wout makes it back to the bunch as the pace settles once again. The bunch are tightly packed though with Alpecin, Ineos, Movistar and Jumbo-Visma commanding the front of the pack.

There was some heated debate between Jumbo-Visma and Movistar riders following the van Aert incident - the Jumbo-Visma riders appeared to be urging Movistar not to push the pace while their leader, and the race leader, made it back to the group.

The breakaway enjoys the biggest lead they've had all day - 4'09" back to a nervous peloton who are tightly bunched together heading towards cobbled sector 11.

The numbering of the cobbled sectors work in reverse order, from 11 down to 1, over a distance of around 70km. The total distance of the cobbled sectors is 19.4km.

As the cobbles approach UAE Team Emirates up the pace at the front of the bunch, with Alpecin alongside them.

The peloton surges down the dual carriageway heading towards the first crunch point. Arriving in a good position is vital, and the nerves ramp up as a result.

80km to go

The pace is absolutely frenetic as the peloton approaches the cobbles, with Jumbo-Visma leading the charge.

Remember, the first sector is being ridden in reverse to how it's shown on the map and will begin in Fressain, and run to Villers au Tertre.

The breakaway enters the first sector - sector 11. The crowds line the sector and cheer the six men on their way. 

The peloton are 3'33" behind.

The breakaway tackle the cobbles quite conservatively, as the peloton bears down just under three and a half minutes behind.

The peloton rides at around 58km/h as the approach the cobbles. 

There is a coming together in the bunch as the riders work their way through the town, and Sagan is one of the riders caught out.

Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates) is also caught out before the cobbled sector.

Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) leads the peloton across the first cobbled sector, followed closely by Tadej Pogačar.

75km to go

It's questionable as to why Bettiol is riding on the front given he has two team mates in the breakaway.

The first cobbled sector is done and dusted, and Jack Bauer (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) attacks as they exit back onto the tarmac.

Frederik Frison (Lotto Soudal) also makes a break from the bunch. Two men, Jack Bauer and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) have managed to find a gap.

With all the action following the first sector, the breakaway's gap has been reduced to 3'05" to the two chasers, and 3'18" to the main bunch.

70km to go

Mechanical problem for Dani Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) - he waits on a bike change.

Mads Pedersen looks like he means business. He and Jack Bauer have around 24' on the bunch now as they ride in pursuit of the front group. The Trek rider and former World Champion has previously targeted Paris-Roubaix but has suffered from back luck in both of the past two editions.

Around 8km to go until the next sector. Following this, they come thick and fast - expect tensions to rise once more and gaps begin to appear.

65km to go

Pedersen and Bauer are reeled back in by the peloton.

Sector 10 approaches - 1.5km in length, there are concerns over rider safety on this segment of cobbles as it runs slightly downhill.

The breakaway taking on the first cobbled sector of the day (image).

The pace picks up once more as the bunch approach sector 10 - our second cobbled sector of the day. 

The breakaway still maintain a lead of 3'08".

60km to go

There's been a crash - Anthony Turgis (Team TotalEnergies) has come down at the back of the bunch. It's his second crash of the Tour so far.

There's a moment of stress as Mikael Cherel (AG2R) swerves at the front of the bunch right in front of Tadej Pogačar.

The breakaway reaches sector 10, Eswars à Paillencourt. They are 3'28" ahead of the bunch.

It's a sunny, dry day in northern France and the dust flies up as the riders cover the cobbles, followed by the motos and team cars. 

55km to go

The peloton hit cobbled sector 10 at 60km/h, with QuickStep-AlphaVinyl at the head of the bunch. They are going full gas and there is a small gap behind them.

The pair from QuickStep-AlphaVinyl have opened up a gap, with a few riders trying to bridge to them.

The riders have safely navigated the first two cobbled sectors. A small group of riders now has a gap on the peloton, along with another group who have lost touch at the back.

It's just 6km to the next sector. The strain is already starting to show - Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën) has a mechanical issue.

Sector 9 is a three-star sector, so an escalation in difficulty. It's 1.4km long and the breakaway riders are already on it, as the bunch are still 3'00" behind.

50km to go

News coming through that both Peter Sagan (Team TotalEnergies) and Chris Froome (Israel-PremierTech) have been dropped. The former had a crash earlier, the latter had a nasty crash on a similar stage all the way back in 2014.

Ben O'Connor chases back on with three team mates, as the breakaway exit sector 9, and the peloton are about to attack it.

Dust is clouding around the bunch which is strung out along the sector. Mathieu Van der Poel is off the pace, and looking as though he is not feeling up for the challenge today.

The cracks are starting to appear as the cobbles begin to take their toll. Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Florian Senechal (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers) all struggling with issues.

The riders now face three more sectors in a stretch of the route less than 10km long.

On Sector 8, the breakaway are still riding well together, tackling the cobbles in relative calm by contrast with the bunch. Neilson Powless remains in the virtual yellow jersey on the road.

45km to go

Jumbo Visma leads the peloton into sector 8. Ben O'Connor is currently the most affected by the splits, almost a minute down on the yellow jersey group.

Visibility is poor now with dust obscuring the view.

Sector 7 is a three-star sector, and 1.3km long. The breakaway are 2'28" ahead, with O'Connor, Sagan and a few others another minute further behind.

Ineos lead into sector 7 and appear to be riding a little more conservatively over some really rough pavé.

George Bennett (UAE Team Emirates) comes down in the melée.

40km to go

The gap to the O'Connor group is extending - it's a difficult day for AG2R's main GC hope.

Tadej Pogačar is looking very composed, however.

Mathieu van der Poel and Fabio Jakobsen are both dropped. They will not compete for the stage win today.

The breakaway are having a great day out front. No stress, able to take the cobbles at their own pace. They enter sector 6, a two-star segment, and they still have 2'05" over the rest.

Jonas Vingegaard suffers a mechanical - Steven Kruijswijk swaps bikes with him and Vingegaard tries to chase back on. It's all across the road here now with numerous splits throughout the bunch.

Five cobbled sectors remain. Bora-Hansgrohe currently lead the bunch, now significantly reduced in size.

Groupama-FDJ and Bora-Hansgrohe take over proceedings at the front as the main GC teams try to take care of their leaders.

Wout van Aert drops back to pick up Jonas Vingegaard to enable him to bridge back to the front.

It's all playing right into Tadej Pogačar's hands today.

In this act of self-sacrifice, Wout van Aert is effectively giving up the yellow jersey today. The way things are going, Jumbo-Visma will have a fight on their hands to get it back in subsequent stages.

30km to go

Sector 5 is a four-star sector. 2.8km long, it's going to find out many of the non-specialists.

A crash as a loose hay bale causes a big incident in the bunch.

The breakaway are still 1'39" ahead of the rest and it's looking good for them. 

The yellow jersey is now 2'20" behind, with the rest scattered along the route in a number of groups.

Absolute carnage out there, it seems as though Primož Roglič is one of the riders caught up in the crash, and he is behind the main group now, with most of the rest of his team behind him.

Once again Alberto Bettiol drives at the front of the bunch for EF Education-EasyPost, this makes no sense at all, with two of his own team mates in a breakaway that is looking really strong.

Pogačar takes over from Bettiol at the front of the bunch, he looks in imperious form.

Pogačar takes the opportunity to push on and maximise his advantage over Jumbo Visma who are in absolute disarray.

We always expected this to be a big day for the GC riders but after the highs of yesterday for Team Jumbo-Visma, they are once again seeing their GC challenge go up in flames. They are currently 2'40" behind, with major losses in the overall classification likely at the end of the day.

25km to go

Wout Van Aert is wasting no time, moving to the front of the large group they are a part of to pull his GC leaders back in touch.

The breakaway now still have 1'04" over the rest but with Tadej Pogačar in this mood, they will be lucky to stay away. They enter sector 4.

Sector 4 is a three-star sector, 2.4km to contend with and just three more to go after that. 22.5km remain on the stage.

Jumbo-Visma are team time-trialling themselves back to the main group. They are at 1'48" now, 48" behind the main group.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Magnus Cort? He's been in the breakaway for almost the entire Tour de France so far. With no mountains points available today, he's clearly up for a stage win to add to his fantastic Tour so far.

20km to go

All the talk before the stage was about how Pogačar would need his team mates, but he's doing it alone today. Not only managing the cobbles brilliantly, but leading from the front.

Primož Roglič is currently 1'39" behind Pogačar - Jonas Vingegaard is at closer order with Wout Van Aert, and may well take over team leadership following today's stage.

Aleksandr Vlasov has lots to gain from today, and he races into Sector 3, a four-star sector. 

Pogačar's UAE team mates continue to suffer as their leader flourishes - Brandon McNulty the latest to come a cropper.

Attacks from the front as Pogačar breaks away from the front of the bunch with Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) for company.

Huge, huge statement from Tadej Pogačar today. At his current pace it looks likely that he will catch the breakaway, and perhaps even take the stage. Pure aggression and incredible bike handling from the Slovenian.

Florian Vermeesch (Lotto Soudal) slides out going around a corner in pursuit of Pogačar and Stuyven.

Primož Roglič's team mates are pouring themselves into this chase, but he's two minutes behind Pogačar now.

There are two sectors remaining on the cobbles. The breakaway's gap is down to 37".

Sector 2 - three stars, 1.4km, Pogačar and Stuyven work together to try and close down the breakaway who have just 39" on them now.

Van der Hoorn pushes on at the front of the breakaway which is now down to five men. They have ridden heroically today but the chasing pair mean business.

Jumbo-Visma will not give up. Their domestiques are giving everything to try and limit the losses of their leaders, but they can't make any headway to Pogačar.

The breakaway are giving it another dig, pulling the gap back out to 47".

10km to go

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Wout van Aert work for their leaders in the chasing group that also contains Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jonas Vingegaard.

The breakaway are still holding out hopes of a stage win - with 8.2km remaining their gap increases to 51".

Sector 1 - the last of eleven sectors that have smashed this 2022 Tour de France apart. The breakaway begin their final run towards what would be a deserved stage victory.

The chasing pair of Stuyven and Pogačar hit the final cobbled sector.

Wout van Aert now drives the main bunch who are at 1'36" from the break, but more important, around 40" behind the chasing pair.

Magnus Cort is distanced - he has ridden brilliantly once again but he won't win today.

5km to go

The Jumbo-Visma domestiques still try to limit Roglič's losses, but the race looks to be over for the Slovenian, at least in terms of the GC.

The cobbles are done for the day for most of the riders and they will be happy to see the back of them after a day full of spills and drama.

Wout Van Aert clocks out for the day, dropping back with a pat on the back from Jonas Vingegaard, as he says goodbye to his yellow jersey.

One of four men will win stage 5 of the Tour de France - Taco Van der Hoorn, Neilson Powless, Simon Clarke and Edvald Boasson Hagen will fight it out for a well-deserved breakaway win.

At least, I thought Van Aert's day was done, but he's back at the front! The grimace on his face matches the one from yesterday where he took a stage win. Today he is dragging his leader, along with a fair few other GC hopefuls back toward Pogačar.

Neilson Powless launches first, and immediately he has a gap on the rest.

Boasson Hagen leads the charge from behind but he too has launched too early. 

Absolutely unbelievable finish. Simon Clarke and Taco van der Hoorn sprint for the line. 

There will be a photo finish as it's unclear who took the victory. What a slog that was as each rider launched their sprint and ran out of legs before the line. It's between Van der Hoorn and Clarke for the stage.

Simon Clarke wins Stage 5 of the Tour de France. An incredibly well-deserved and hard fought breakaway victory. What unbelievable scenes in Arenberg.

 Jumbo-Visma bring Roglič home. it's been a nightmare of a day for the Dutch team.

It's going to take a while to pick apart this one. Stay with us as we bring you post-race interviews, pictures and updated GC standings.

With that final pull for his team mates, Wout Van Aert manages to retain the yellow jersey.

Today's stage winner, Simon Clarke: 'After the winter I had when I had no team, to then have Israel ring me up and say "we'll give you that chance" just gives you such a reality check to make the most of every opportunity. I've come out in every race swinging.'

'The stages I've won in the Vuelta before and the jersey I got in the Giro were all in the first week, so I thought maybe today's the day. I still can't believe I got it on the line there. Taco was well ahead of me with less then 50m to go. I was cramping in both legs so I lined up the biggest throw I could possibly do. I need to watch the replay, I can't quite believe it.'

'I moved to Europe when I was 16 and I'm 36 on the second rest day. 20 years in Europe and today the dream came true.'

'You have to bide your time. Just sit back and pray the other guys panic before you do.'

Simon Clarke pips Taco Van der Hoorn to the stage win on the line. (Image credit: Getty images)

The dust is beginning to settle, literally and figuratively, as we start to make sense of the day's outcomes. 

Despite what was a brilliant attacking ride from Pogačar, Wout Van Aert managed to pull Vingegaard, along with a sizeable group of other GC hopefuls, back to within a manageable time gap, whilst keeping himself in the yellow jersey.

Tadej Pogačar makes gains on GC after a strong attacking ride. He crosses the line with Jasper Stuyven (Image credit: Getty images)

Wout Van Aert puts in a superhuman ride to keep Jonas Vingegaard in touch with Tadej Pogačar (Image credit: Getty images)

The latest GC standings are available to view here, following a day in which Vingegaard, Yates Thomas and Vlasov all maintained a bridgeable gap to Tadej Pogačar.

Tadej Pogačar's quotes after his strong showing on the cobbles...

"There was a really hard day. Quite stressful in the first part, and the second part was really tough. It was a lot of power on the pedals through the day - the cobbles were dusty and dangerous.

"I'm just happy this day is over and I rode well. In the end it was a really good day for me and the team. We were strong in the end I could follow Jasper Stuyven. We were just strong enough to be in the middle. It was not easy at all, I suffered quite a bit.

"I was in good position all the sectors and I felt good, I followed Jasper Stuyven in the end. He almost dropped me a few times, I struggled and I held onto his wheel. We came onto the front to take some seconds. I have to buy him a beer."

Here's what Wout van Aert had to say after defending his yellow jersey...

"Actually in the beginning I didn't really like it in the front of the bunch, the roads in my opinion were way too dangerous. Everyone expected something from us because of the cobbles, but then we started to go through the villages and a lot of narrowings and things on the road. I didn't like it there and didn't want to take risks.

"At the moment when I thought it was necessary to start moving up I immediately crashed because of a narrowing. I hurt myself a bit but I also lost a bit of confidence to go really in the fight for position. It's a shame because at that point I let down the other boys and I was in the back instead of having a good position on the cobbles. 

"From then on it was a fight with myself the whole day. It was definitely not the day we hoped for. Yesterday we fought in the front and today we had to fight in the back. I think everyone liked it more yesterday but days like today you have to overcome. Especially with Jonas, we keep everything good for GC, not too much damage. I'm proud of everyone to commit in the chase. We will keep fighting."

Van Aert celebrates remaining in yellow on the cobbles today.

Van Aert remains in green, too.

Magnus Cort was in the break yet again today and remains in polka dots, even if there were no hills on stage 5.

Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar is still in the white of best young rider.

We've had plenty of news and reaction from the stage coming in. Here's our story on Primož Roglič's bad day out.

Primoz Roglic's Tour de France challenge severely dented by cobbles crash

Van Aert saves yellow and Vingegaard limits damage on trying day for Jumbo-Visma

Pogačar aggressive on the cobbles and again best of Tour de France contenders

'I'm just happy this day is over' says Slovenian

Tour de France: Simon Clarke conquers cobbles to win stage 5

Pogačar impresses, Roglič crashes, Van Aert narrowly salvages maillot jaune after dropping back to help Vingegaard

Tour de France cobble woes as Haig crashes out, O'Connor loses time

Video shows Oss, Gogl crash into a cell phone-using spectator

Relive the final kilometre of the stage with this video...

Van Aert decries 'dangerous' Tour de France cobbled stage on bad luck day

'In 15 minutes so much happened,' says race leader

Ineos limit damage on Tour de France cobbles despite Geraint Thomas crash

Welshman, Yates and Martinez remain well placed after frantic day

We'll have more news and reaction coming through the evening. Keep checking back for more, including from Mathieu van der Poel and EF Education-EasyPost.