2019 Tour de France Stage 5 Results & Recap
Stage 5 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Sagan wins in Colmar\nBy Clara Beard
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) took his 12th victory at the Tour de France today in Colmar after surfing the wheels of his rivals in the final metres of the stage. The green jersey timed his massive acceleration perfectly to come around Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) to post up Hulk-style at the line.
“I just have to ride with passion and the victory comes,” Sagan said to reporters after the stage. “I have to say thanks to all my teammates. They have done a great job and finally, we have the Tour de France victory that we were looking for. It’s very nice for us. We controlled all day, on the flat part and towards the finish. I did my best. Everyone needs good luck and a good day for winning.”
The challenging terrain on the first hilly day of the TDF saw Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) retain the yellow jersey, albeit losing six seconds to van Aert in the overall competition.
“The spirit within my team has always been special,” Alaphilippe said. “We always fight together to get the victory. Yesterday I was happy to work for Elia Viviani, and today they all did their best for me. It was a nice stage although everyone is looking forward to tomorrow. Why not keep the yellow jersey? I melt like ice under the sun, but every day I spend in yellow is a bonus for me. Tomorrow I’ll have to suffer even more than usual.”
Contrary to earlier stages, today’s breakaway took 20 kilometres to establish. The peloton eventually waved on Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin), Simon Clarke (EF Education First) and Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), however, they weren’t allowed much of an advantage, just two and a half minutes at times.
On the cĂ´te des Trois-Epis, Skujins attacked his breakaway companions, which shattered the front group. The Latvian champion gave it his all but was eventually reeled in by a determined Team Sunweb.
“Today even though I was at the front the whole day, it was easier than the first day of the Tour de France,” Skujins said. “Tim Wellens was asking us to let him have the KOM points. To give the breakaway the best chance, I couldn’t say no. Eventually, it was beneficial for all of us. I felt I was the strongest in the break. I knew the peloton was coming close and it was demanding to go on the attack again, but I wanted to see what I could do, although my legs were pretty empty. In the last climb I didn’t have anything left.”
In the closing kilometres, Rui Costa gave a go off the front, but the peloton was committed to the sprint where Sagan took his eighth career victory in the green jersey. \n
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