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