Tour de France. Australia’s Clarke stage 5, Belgium’s Van Aert keeps his yellow jersey

At the end of a day marked by the cobblestones of the north and many waterfalls, including the yellow jersey Wout Van Aert (Jambo-Wisma) and one of the favorites Primoz Roglic (Jambo-Wisma), the Australian Simon Clarke (Israel). -Premier Tech) won 5^e Tour de France stage contested by Lille and Arenberg. Belgium’s Wout Van Aert retains his yellow jersey by 13 seconds ahead of American Nielson Powles (EF Education-EasyPost), defending champion Thaddeus Pogakar (UAE), who took time away from all rivals for the eventual win.

Fact of the day.

Crazy move. These 153 kilometers between Lille and Arenberg will do a lot of damage… In the end it was Simon Clarke (Israel Premier Tech) who went to the line to raise his hands ahead of Taco Van Der Horn (Intermarché Wanty Gobert). During the day, the Australian maneuvered superbly in the finale, launching his sprint at the last moment. At 35, this is probably the best win of his career.

As for the favorites, Jumbo-Visma will suffer a big defeat today. His two leaders (Roglic and Wingegard) will miss time against Thaddeus Pogacar. Due to a fall for one and mechanical failure for the other. The only satisfaction for them was Wingegard’s return to the Gaudu group in the final, thanks to some sublime work from Wout Van Aert, who also kept his yellow shirt. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Pogacar conquered everything in the northern hell. Always well positioned, the recent Tour de France winner held his own and had a perfect race. He takes a good ten seconds off his main rivals and over two minutes on Primoz Roglic (Jambo-Wisma), who is undoubtedly the big loser of the day.

“It was a very good day for me, I didn’t have any mishaps and I felt good on the cobbles. At the end there were guys stronger than me, but I tried to run smart. This step gives me confidence and motivation. I have good feelings and I am looking forward to when I will reach the mountain. I like the cobbles, but the 11 is already good, a little more would be difficult.” said Pogakar after finishing.

Very good gaudou, but not for a French victory

David Gaudu (FDJ) made a great move in the tricolor, limiting Pogakar’s breakthrough and remaining in the group of other favorites. Not comfortable on the cobbles, the FDJ leader lost just fifteen seconds at the line.

In another register, the French did not weigh in on the race for the stage win. Florian Senechal (Quickstep) was unlucky when he was punctured. He was France’s best chance today. Note Hugo Hofstetter’s beautiful place (20:00).^e and the first tricolor on the line). Nice performance from the Arkéa-Samsic sprinter.

Image of the day: 2’08 min

This is the gap that separates Primoz Roglic from Tadej Pogakar at the finish line. This 5^e stage, indeed the leader of Jumbo-Visma was the big loser of the day. A victim of a fall, the Slovenian will have problems with his shoulder…

Tweet of the day.

Delayed by a mechanical problem, Jonas Wingegaard (Jambo-Wisma) struggled to recover quickly. Away from his car, the Dane tried everything to get away as quickly as possible, including taking his teammates’ bikes. Lucky for him, these weren’t his size at all… This makes for some pretty funny images for us, especially for a runner…

Announcement of the day.

Simon Clarke, winner of this 5th round. “This is the best victory of my career. I’ve had other successes, but to win here is just amazing. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine doing a performance today on cobblestones, which are not my specialty. But my manager told me today was my day off, so I went for it. Nilsson Powles was strong all day, but you had to be heartless. I held back, waited until the last moment and finally threw my bike with all my might. I didn’t think I won even after the line, so I still find it hard to believe. »

Picture of the day.

The fall of the yellow jersey even before the cobbles. Wout Van Aert got it right. A few kilometers before the first cobbled section of the day (Villiers-au-Terres to Fresnes), the Belgian crashed at low speed but suffered extensive damage to his left side. His team-mate Steven Kruiswijk also fell. A few kilometers away, Wout Van Aert almost made another mistake after being careless. The DSM squad car had to brake, the yellow jersey was in his path and had incredible reflexes to avoid it.

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