As it happened: Tour de France stage 5 - lead and win for Hindley, Pogačar suffers

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France.

The rollout for stage 5 is due to begin at 1305 CET and after a long-ish neutralised section,  actual racing begins at 1325 CET.

Two confirmed non-starters today: Luis León Sánchez (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). Both riders broke their collarbones in crashes in Tuesday's tumultuous bunch sprint finish, and the Italian also broke one of his ribs.

For the remainder of the field, after two very hilly stages and then two bunch sprint stages, stage 5 is a rather different kettle of fish as the Tour heads into the Pyrenees for what is a very tough early test of climbing form and potentially a major GC battle.

Stage 5 has over 3,600 metres of vertical climbing, the fifth highest total in the entire race, so this promises to be a real baptism of mountain fire.

Here's a shot of Tadej Pogačar heading towards the start today

It's been widely noted that Pogačar was the winner in Laruns three years ago, also on a stage starting in Pau, also with the Col de Marie Blanque as the last climb. The million dollar question being - will history repeat itself today?

And here's a photo of Pogačar crossing the finish line  in Laruns back in 2020, the fastest of a group of five, and the first Tour stage of his career. (He has taken eight more since then).
Fourth that day, incidentally was Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and fifth Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), a result which will  be a morale boost for those two riders as well today.

Ok, that's enough past Tour history - back to the present. The peloton has just begun its rollout, a nine kilometre neutralised section prior the real race action getting underway. 

Confirmed that there are just two non-starters today, Luis León Sánchez (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). So 172 riders remain in the 2023 Tour peloton.

My colleague Dan Ostanek has written an excellent preview of today's first high mountain stage. To read it, link below:

'We'll attack in the Pyrenees' – Early Tour de France mountains to fuel GC skirmish

This is the 66th stage start for the Tour from Pau, a town which first appeared on the Grand Boucle route way back in 1930. 

Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France is now officially underway. Only 162.7 kilometres to go.

Although we've got a flattish first 50 kilometres or so, the mountains are going to be the big protagonist in today's race. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) is in the lead, by 18 points over Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but it's worth bearing in mind that a maximum of 32 points are up for grabs in three climbs today. The biggest gain will be the 20 on offer atop the Col du Soudet, while there's 10 on the Col de Marie Blanque, and 2 on the Col d'Ichère.

The first attack of stage 5 is already underway and we're only three kilometres in: France's Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) moves ahead.

This is the official weather forecast for today. Most important, no likelihood rain, so dry descents. Current temperature a balmy 22.9ºC.

Variable to overcast skies in the afternoon.

No risk of rain.

Temperatures between 19 and 23°C.

Wind from the North-West averaging 10 km/h with gusts to 25 to 30 km/h.

Here's a quick reminder of the current state of play on the GC, courtesy of  FirstCycling. We can expect some significant changes by close of play today.

Crash for Tour de Suisse winner Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo), who gets back on his bike. Former Tour stage winner Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) also hits the deck.  

151 kilometres to go

11 kilometres into the race, and Latour has a lead of around 10 seconds amidst plenty of other unsuccessful attacks. This is a rather faster start than stage 4's early snooze-fest.

Skjelmose is back in the pack, according to the official race website.

On today's Tour de France menu

Km 0: Start -  Pau

Km 48.8: Sprint -  Lanne-en-Barretoux

Km 87.5: Climb -  Col du Soudet: HC: 15.2kms at 7.2%

Km 124.8:  Climb - Col d’Ichère -  Cat.3:  4.2kms at 7%

Km 144.2: Climb - Col de Marie-Blanque -  Cat. 1: 7.7km at 8.6%

Km 162.7: Finish - Laruns

Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep), a crash victim, is struggling with the fast pace as numerous attacks try to go clear.

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and stage 2 winner Victor Lafay (Cofidis) are both trying to make moves, but there's a lot of ebbing and flowing at the front of the peloton.

Jakobsen, supported by teammate Michael Morkov, is weaving his way through the team cars and is about 30 seconds behind the main peloton.

Latour is about to be joined by eight other riders at the front of the bunch, but it's still a very nervous start and not clear if the break will stick.

The bunch regains ground on the nine, which included Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) and Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), and we're back to square one.

Jakobsen and Morkov are just a few metres behind the peloton now, so it looks like the Dutch sprinter's mini-crisis is over.

140 kilometres to go

Average speed of nearly 48 kmh in the first 20 kiloemetes and the bunch briefly splits apart under the pressure of such a fast start, but although it's very lined out a the front, no move going clear for more than a few seconds.

Having all but regained contact, Jakobsen is now over a minute down again. It looks like it's going to be a hard day for the Soudal-QuickStep sprinter, who's suffering from his injuries from stage 4's chaotic finish.

A group of 20 riders clips clear in this breathless start to the stage, including GC Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), but it's finally brought back by what amounts to the peloton.

A front group of 50 riders has formed, including Van Aert, and has around 30 seconds on the remains of the peloton. 

A furious chase is ensuing as UAE try to chase down the group of some 50 riders ahead, with Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) the best placed rider ahead on GC.

The gap has risen to over a minute for Hindley and co. This could be a seriously dangerous move for UAE and the other GC contenders behind.

Heavy crash for Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), who falls in the middle of the road in the chasing peloton. He has a lot of road rash, and ripped kit, but for now at least he's trying to continue.

The official website says 32 riders are in  the front, including Hindley (at 22 seconds on GC),   Wout van Aert, French National Champion Valentin Madouas, Jack Haig, Rigoberto Uran, Emanuel Buchmann, Giulio Ciccone and Julian Alaphilippe...  

The full list in the break:
Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma)
Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma)
Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
Felix Grosschartner (UAE)
Marc Soler (UAE)
Omar Fraile (Ineos)
Dani Martínez (Ineos)
Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ)
Esteban Chaves (EF)
Rigoberto Uran (EF)
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep)
Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep)
Remi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep)
Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious)
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek)
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Berthet (AG2R)
Felix Gall (Ag2R)
Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R)
Bryan Coquard (Cofidis)
Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar)
Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar)
Chris Hamilton (DSM)
Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech)
Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech)
Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AIUIa)
Anthony Delaplace (Arkea-Samsic)
Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)
Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny)
Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan)
Torstein Traen (Uno-X)
Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total-Energies)

 

Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campanaerts clip off the front

Coquard wins the sprint and then sits up. Van Aert, Pedersen and Campanaerts continue on with a 20 second gap.

Campenaerts presses on and the trio ahead have a gap of 40 seconds on their three dozen pursuers, while the peloton is now more than 2:30 back.

A photo of UAE leading the chase in the main peloton. At 16 seconds Van Aert is the man who's currently the closest to Adam Yates on GC, but Jai Hindley at 22 seconds is arguably the biggest overall threat long-term.

Bora-Hansgrohe, who have three other riders alongside Hindley in the chasing group behind Van Aert, Campenaerts and Pedersen, are logically doing most of the work. 

The chasing group is breaking apart, as French National Champion Madouas, tries to counter-attack. He's chased down by Laporte, as Van Aert is ahead, but his attack is symptomatic of how tricky it is for any cohesion to endure in this massive group of pursuers.

We're in the foothills of the Col de Soudet and here's a profile of the climb.

90 kilometres to go

Breakaway: Pedersen, Van Aert, Campenaerts

At 1:17: chasing group of 33

At 2:40: peloton

The three stage leaders are now on the lowest slopes of the Col de Soudet: HC: 15.2kms at 7.2%.

A shot of the three riders ahead

Reports of very poor visibility with fog at the top of the Col du Soudet

Remi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep) is putting in a lot of the hard yards at the front of the group of counter-attackers and the gap on the trio ahead is shrinking as a result.

Bike change for Tadej Pogačar at the foot of the Soudet. Riding solo, he's quickly back in the main group.

10 kilometres from the summit of the Soudet, former World Champion Pedersen starts to struggle

His work done, Cavagna swings off from the chase group and Alaphilippe moves to the front.

After his brief acceleration in the group of chasers behind Campenaerts and Van Aert, Alaphilippe drops back, and Lidl-Trek's Juanpe López is now picking up the pace.

In the main group, Matteo Trentin is doing the bulk of the work for UAE, and his pace has seen almost all of the sprinters dropped. After his difficult start to the stage, Fabio Jakobsen is struggling again.

Jakobsen has four teammates staying with him to try and help him through the remainder of the stage.

Temperatures aren't very cold today, but they've already dropped to 14ºC and there's still seven kilometres of climbing.

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), who suffered a bad crash early on stage 5, is dropped from the main group.

80 kilometres to go

Van Aert and Campenaerts have 15 seconds on the big chasing group and 3:07 on the main UAE-led peloton. Five kilometres to the summit.

Stake Vegard Laengen, Mikkel Bjerg, Rafal Majka are leading their team leader Pogačar at the head of the string. Trentin has done his work, but UAE also have Soler and Grosschartner ahead in the break.

It looks as if Soler is currently dropping back from the big group of counter-attackers to Pogačar.

Wout Van Aert's climbing pedigree is more than well established, but don't forget for all he's got some major time trialling chops, Campenaerts is also no slouch when the road steepens as well. In the Dauphiné, he went on a long break on the second last stage through the Alps and led the mountains classification for a day.

2.5 kilometres from the summit of the Soudet, Van Aert and Campenaerts have been brought back. 3:10 the gap.

Acceleration by Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), and then Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroen) goes over the top and moves away.

Gall was a winner of a mountain stage in the Tour de Suisse, and briefly the race leader as well, so he's got the pedigree for this kind of move.

Gall's attack, a kilometre from the top of the Soudet, is rewarded with a gap of 20 seconds.

Visibility is atrocious here, as the riders head into a major fog bank.

Felix Gall (AG2R-Citröen) crosses the summit of the Col de Soudet at the head of the race and moves into the provisional lead of the mountains ranking.

Felix Gall takes 20 KOM points, ahead of Dani Martínez who claims 15 and Ciccone 12.

The head of the race drops back out of the fog on the descent of the Soudet and Gall is caught up again by his pursuers.

Van Aert, dropped near the summit of the Soulet, is now catching up as well.

It's a broad, fairly well-surfaced descent for now.

Alaphilippe is 23 seconds back, but slowly closing on the leaders. But the big question is if or when UAE and Jumbo-Visma will reel Hindley, currently in the break with a gap of 4:00, back in. The best placed GC contender at 22 seconds, the Australian is a former Grand Tour winner, don't forget, and if  he holds onto that kind of advantage  all the way to the finish, then it'd be a serious gamechanger in the Tour GC battle.

A shot of the break, with Hindley in third place, on the lower slopes of the Soudet

In the lead of the race: Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Fraile (Ineos), Martínez (Ineos), Madouas (Groupama), Uran (EF), Chaves (EF), Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Hindley (Bora), Buchmann (Bora), Ciccone (Lidl), Berthet (AG2), Gall (AG2R), Jorgenson (Movistar), Muhlberger (Movistar), Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech).

52 kilometres to go

Krists Neilands, the only Israel-Premier Tech present, tries a move from the break just as Chris Hamilton (DSM-Fermenich) regains contact at the back.

Still to come

Km 124.8: Climb - Col d’Ichère -  Cat.3:  4.2kms at 7%

Km 144.2: Climb - Col de Marie-Blanque -  Cat. 1: 7.7km at 8.6%

Km 162.7: Finish - Laruns

Neilands quickly opens up a gap on lone counter-attacker Van Aert of some 25 seconds.

Various attempts in the chasing group to try and bridge across to Neilands, and finally it's a move by Van Aert and Alaphilippe that goes clear.

Neilands heads onto the Col d’Ichère: Cat.3: 4.2kms at 7% with 18 seconds on Van Aert and Alaphilippe. 

Race situation

Breakaway: Neilands
At 16 seconds: Van Aert, Alaphilippe
At 38 seconds: Hindley group
At 3:44: UAE-led bunch

The UAE-lead bunch have now cut a minute off the Hindley group on the flatter segment of terrain between the foot of the descent of Soudet and the Ichère. But there's still three minutes and it remains to be seen what happens when the road steepens again - which it will shortly.

In the Hindley group, AG2R-Citroen's Clément Berthet is putting in the hard work on the front for his teammate and provisional mountains leader Felix Gall. Omar Fraile (Ineos Grenadiers), a former Tour stage winner, is also lending a hand.

Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) leads over the Cat. 3 Col d'Ichère with 25 seconds advantage on Van Aert and Alaphilippe.

On the descent of the Col d'Ichère, Van Aert and Alaphilippe have finally caught up with Neilands. But the Hindley group is just 16 seconds behind.

Amidst all the logical talk about Hindley and what he can do in the break, it's worth also remembering that Dani Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), having had a rough start to the race and currently 15 minutes down overall, looks to be back in the stage-hunting game.

Shortly coming up: the Col de Marie Blanque. 'Only' 7.7 kilometres long, but with a brutally steep final four kilometres.

Fraile  (Ineos-Grenadiers) and AG2R-Citröen's Berthet and Aurelien Paret-Peintre are leading the group of chasers, which has swelled to 21 riders, but which will surely shrink again fast on the Marie Blanque.

The three stage leaders (Alaphilippe, Van Aert, Neilands) have reached the foot of the Marie Blanque -  Cat. 1: 7.7km at 8.6%.

In the UAE-led group, Marc Soler is pushing hard on the front. There's still 2:45 between the Hindley group and the main peloton.

Maximum speed in the group of chasers and in the main peloton, as Fraile pulls the break back into touch with Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands and UAE give it everything behind. The gap stays stable at 2:47.

Van Aert is dropped from the front group.

Fraile swings over in the breka, and Berthet keeps pushing on for AG2R teammate Gall.

Alaphilippe is also dropped and the lead group is down to just six riders. Notably Hindley still has Buchmann, the German National Champion and a top-five finisher in the Tour a few years back, with him.

Gall goes for it four kilometres from the summit and Hindley is the only rider who can follow him. They have 2:28 on the bunch.

Hindley comes through to the front and works with Gall. He knows there's a yellow jersey could be out there for him.

In the peloton, Soler drops back, and now it's Felix Grosschartner who's doing the work for UAE. The gap on Hindley, though, remains at 2:30 for now.

Just 20 riders in the main group, as Majka takes over from Grosschartner for UAE.

Bernal reportedly in difficulties in the yellow jersey group. Jumbo-Visma move to the front. 

Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) also suffering.

Van Aert and Sepp Kuss are accelerating in the yellow jersey group. Just 10 riders in the front group.

Van Aert swings off and Adam Yates, the race leader, is reportedly not looking good.

20 kilometres

Hindley attacks 1.5 kilometres from the summit.

Adam Yates, yellow jersey, is dropped, as is Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos). 

Only Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard and Pogacar in the GC group now.

The gap between Hindley and the Vingegaard/Pogacar group is down to 1:48

Hindley powers on alone. Just a kilometre of climbing to go now.

Attack by Vingegaard, who drops Pogačar. Vingegaard is taking the Tour by the scruff of the neck at the first opportunity.

Vingegaard is already out of sight for Pogačar. A huge attack.

Just 300 metres to the top for Hindley. Vingegaard is sweeping up numerous riders from the early break.

Hindley crosses the summit of Cote de Marie-Blanque in first place, but his pursuers are close behind, and Vingegaard is only 1:09 back.

Pogacar, meanwhile, is already 41 seconds back on Vingegaard. 

Kuss has now caught up with Pogačar, who is plodding along steadily and who crosses the Marie Blanque with 38 seconds disadvantage on Vingegaard. 

15 kilometres to go

Hindley has less than a minute on Vingegaard.

The situation

Lead: Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgohe)
At 46 seconds: Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroen)
At 59 seconds: Jonas Vingegaard group
At 1:49: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Vingegaard and co. are closing on Gall and will be looking to chase down Hindley if they can. Quite apart from the stage win and distancing Pogacar, there are time bonuses at stake here.

Pogacar meanwhile is limiting the gap on Vingegaard to a minute. It's not the end of his Tour bid by a long shot, but as things stand, after such a great start to the Tour for UAE, it's a serious defeat nonetheless.

Pogačar is descending with just Kuss for company, who  - logically - is not going to come through to help limit the gap.

The Vingegaard group, also containing Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) catches Gall and the Dane asks Gall for some help. He doesn't get a positive response, but Ciccone comes through for a few metres. Vingegaard, in any case, hardly needs any help at this point - he's flying. 

Four kilometres to go

Hindley has 42 seconds advantage. It's going to be tight.

Pogacar is joined by a much larger group including yellow jersey Adam Yates. His time loss on Vingegaard has now risen to 1:15. 

Vingegaard is powering on at his front group, even if the stage win is out of his grasp now.

Hindley is inside the final barriers and still has 38 seconds. It's flat all the way now to the finish.

Hindley is within sight of his first Tour stage victory, but there's no sign of him dropping his pace to celebrate. 

Hindley crosses the line to take the stage and the yellow jersey.

Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France

Ciccone takes second, about 32 seconds back, and Gall is third. No time bonus for Vingegaard, who's fifth, but he's taken a big step towards a much bigger prize today.

Tadej Pogačar crosses the line over a minute down on Vingegaard. A very different outcome to how the Tour's last finish in Laruns played out for him.

This is Hindley's first ever Tour de France, and it could hardly have gone better for the 2022 Giro d'Italia winner so far. As he memorably said in last year's Giro, he's "not here to put socks on centipedes, mate."

And here's a shot of Jai Hindley crossing the finish line

Some words from Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) stage winner and new leader of the Tour de France:
"I was sort of improvising out there and enjoying some bike racing and I just managed to find myself in that group. I really enjoyed it out there today."
"It's really incredible, and I have no words. The guys in the radio were screaming about just riding to the line and I couldn't really hear so much what was happening. I wanted to gain as much time as possible  and also the stage and I found myself in the yellow jersey. So that's pretty cool too.
As for possibly going for the win, Hindley says, "I didn't really know what to expect. It's my first Tour and it's hard to come here with such massive ambitions already. But for sure I wanted to come here and be competitive and have some form of success. I've just won a stage of the Tour de France mate - this one's for them, my girlfriend, everyone that's supported me. I'm really thankful for that."

And here's the top 10 on the stage, courtesy of FirstCycling

And here's the new GC, again via FirstCycling. There have been a few changes...

Some words from Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), fifth on the stage and second overall,  but looking well on track to fight for a second straight Tour: "We didn't have to pull in the bunch which was good for us, then on the final climb I felt good, and I said to Sepp [Kuss] to go to the front to start pushing and he did, then I attacked."
"I just felt good, and then I looked at myself, and if I felt good then I'd try to attack."
As for how much of a blow this is to Tadej Pogačar and his rivals, Vingegaard said,  "you have to ask them, but I know Tadej, he never gives up, it'll be a fight all the way to Paris." 

And here's the moment when Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line at Laruns.

Some words from Tadej Pogačar, who remains in the Best Young Rider's jersey despite his defeat:
"I lost my legs a little bit in the last 500 metres of the climb and I think every day now it's going to be...I feel good, so I hope I will feel better in the next days on the bike when we go full gas."
Regarding earlier in the stage and why they let Jai Hindley get such a big gap, Pogačar explained that "it was a bit hectic over the small climbs, everybody wanted to go in the breaks and there was this one moment when we couldn't close the gap immediately. A big group went away, it was not the best, but we were still going good. Jai could take the yellow but we hoped for a better result in the final climb in the main peloton."
"Now I know my limits, but my motivation is pretty high, and we can go 'day by day', pretty strong."

Pogačar was not the only UAE Team Emirates rider to suffer on the first big mountains day of the Tour. Here's a photo of Adam Yates coming home in 15th place, and who lost the overall lead after four stages today.

Our full report on the stage, complete with gallery and analysis, can be found here:

Tour de France: Jai Hindley wins stage 5 as Vingegaard drops Pogacar in Pyrenees

Pogačar wasn't the only former Tour de France winner who had a tough day on Wednesday. 2019 champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) completed the course more than three minutes down and is now 20th overall.

Quite apart from Jai Hindley taking over as GC leader, in the secondary classifications, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) remains in first place in the points, Felix Gall (AG2R-Citröen) moves into top spot in the mountains competition, Pogačar is  still ahead in the Best Young Rider's rankings, and Jumbo-Visma are still in control of the teams.

So what's next?
Running from Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque for 144.9 kilometres,  stage 6 of the Tour de France on Thursday is the second one in the Pyrenees and has the mid-race ascent of the Tourmalet, the most formidable ascent of the entire mountain range, as the main challenge. It then concludes with the long, grinding ascent to Cauterets.
Oh, and it has nearly 4,000 metres of vertical climbing, so it is almost certainly even tougher than stage 5, particularly as it's the second straight day in the mountains.

There are numerous questions to be answered on Thursday, starting with whether Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) can hold onto the lead. He has a good advantage over Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and the Australian's already excellent mountain credentials have been amply reconfirmed today. While he did take the lead from a break and he won't exactly be able to fly under the radar at all tomorrow, as a former Giro d'Italia winner and runner-up, he knows what it takes to defend a top spot in a GC race.
Beyond that, it's clear that - as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) predicted pre-race -  Vingegaard is once again the main reference point.  Whether Vingegaard wants to try and sink the Slovenian and his other rivals immediately or whether he's playing a longer game and, rather than attack again, is happy to let Hindley and Bora-Hansgrohe soak up the pressure, remains to be seen. 

Yet another question concerns Pogačar. He's lost time, but is very much not out of contention. Can he bounce back in the Pyrenees, or does he need more time to find full race form before trying to counter-attack. If the  2022 Tour (and the rest of his career...) is anything to go by, the Slovenian won't be slow to chance his arm if there's any opportunity to test his rivals.

That wraps it up for Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 5, but we'll be back on Thursday for stage 6. Meantime continue to check out the site for news, analysis and other updates throughout the evening.