Tour de France’s Stage 5: A Sprinters finish

Stage 5 is a 189.5km long flat stage. Starting from the French city of Arras it will finish in the city of Amiens. There are no categorized climbs on this stage. Apart from an intermediate sprint at the 89.5km mark, no other competitions are up for grabs.

The stage is a proper sprinter’s stage, with gentle incline and declines in the elevation. Expect to see Katusha, Etixx-Quick-Step, Giant-Alpecin to all form up on their sprinters and lead them out for the intermediate and final sprint. Peter Sagan should be assisted by Saxo Tinkoff as Contador is within favourable distance of all his General classification rivals.

Today will only be a sprint stage finish. There is no possible way of time being won. Tony Martin whose team put him on yellow will try to pace Cavendish and Renshaw in the final 1km before launching Cavendish to the finish.

The General Classification standings before the start of Stage 5

The Points Classification before start of stage 5

The Jerseys that will be worn

Maillot Juane (Yellow Jersey)

Etixx-Quick Step’s Tony Martin will now be the 4 person to wear the Jersey in 4 days. The German rider soloed the final 3.5kms after his team all positioned him for a chance. He will be hoping to keep it for the first week, as he knows he won’t be able to compete in the mountains.

Maillot Vert (Green Jersey)

Andre Greipel is another German wearing a classification jersey in the tour. The German has held the Green Jersey since stage 2, but his lead in the point’s classification has shrunk. He will need to try and utilise today’s stage for a win or risk losing it to Sagan.
Maillot Blanc (White Jersey)
Peter Sagan is the best classified young rider after strong performances so far. Yesterday he made a real team ride, pacing Alberto Contador into the leading group (and allowed him to finish higher up the standings). He might have to worry about Warren Barguil, but that will be only in the mountains.

King of the Mountains Jersey (Polka Dot)

Joaquim Rodriguez will not have to worry about losing the Polka dot jersey for a while. With no climbs tomorrow, there is no way anyone will beat him atop the mountains classification. He can now be involved in pacing team mate Kristoff for the sprint finale.

Best Team (Leader will wear their numbers on a yellow background)

BMC Racing continue to dominate the team standings and are likely to be atop these standings till the tour reaches the Pyrenees.

Most combative rider (number on a red background)

This was awarded to last year’s winner, Vincenzo Nibali. The Italian and his team attacked the cobbles hoping to repeat last year’s success. Despite his rivals able to match up  his moves, the Italian Champion was at the forefront of all the action over the cobbles.