The fifth stage of the Tour de France may be the most tense. Perhaps the first crucial day for the general classification, not because of the attacks that can be made, but more so because of the time that can be lost on the famous cobbles of northern France.
The day will be short and quick, with only 153 kilometers departing from Lille and finishing on the doorstep of the Trouée d’Arenberg – the town of Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. On the way, 19.4 kilometres of cobbled roads, split into 11 sectors mostly throughout the final 55 kilometers of the stage. It will truly be a stage of two halves, with only the intermediate sprint located early in the day, and the second half will be tense, fast and very dangerous.
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Unlike Paris-Roubaix, stage win won’t be the only priority for riders here. There will be a yellow jersey on the line, but most importantly the Tour de France. Many riders that will fight for the overall classification will have their full team at disposal, which will include domestiques that are specialists in the cobbles. This will lead into ferocious fights for positioning to the entrance of the sectors, where punctures, mechanicals and crashes are real risks.
The first sectors will finish with 72 kilometers to go. Then the sectors will finish at the respective distances: 54.5; 49; 44.5; 41.5; 36; 27; 31; 17.5; 12 and 5 kilometers to go. The sectors are also very evenly distributed, with the smallest being 1300 meters long and the longest is 2400.
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The final sectors will come with just five kilometers to go, from which will certainly emerge a fractured race – with some riders fighting for the win whilst others battling for the GC. The finale is simple, with a long straight in Arenberg deciding the stage winner.
CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Mathieu van der Poel
*** Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen
** Yves Lampaert, Peter Sagan, Jasper Stuyven
* Matej Mohoric, Dylan van Baarle, Christophe Laporte, Florian Sénéchal
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- If you look at road alone obvi Pogacar is the better rider. But maybe MVDP is the better overall rider since he can win in three plus disciplines?mobk23-12-2024
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- A champion turning into a sore loser. Or is he on coke again?
UltimateOpportunist23-12-2024 - If you look at the major races they’ve both been in, van der Poel had the early edge as lately Pogacar has had the advantage. It’s all on procyclingstats.RidesHills23-12-2024
- I wouldn’t assume Tadej can’t win at cross. He did a cross race, not a World Cup, a few years ago and crushed the field. It was a minor race. But he can win anywhere.mij23-12-2024