2020 Tour de France Stage 5 Results & Recap
Stage 5 of the 2020 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
Van Aert wins stage 5
Wout Van Aert sprinted to Jumbo Visma's second win in a row at the Tour de France today after 183km of riding from Gap to Privas. The Belgian used Team Sunweb's leadout train to outkick Cees Bol and Sam Bennett.
"I didn't think I would be able get back to this level when I fell last year at Pau," Van Aert said. "The months afterwards were really tough. I had to work really hard. Since the return to racing in August, I still have the legs, race after race. We look set for a super Tour de France, Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin are looking very strong. We've got a lot of motivation".
In an otherwise uneventful stage, the drama came after the finale, when the officials slapped race leader Julian Alaphilippe with a 20 second penalty after accepting a water bottle after feeding was closed, making Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) the new yellow jersey wearer.
"I didn't understand at first that I was the new yellow jersey," Yates said. "I'd gone back to the bus, I had a shower and I was ready to go back to the hotel, but someone called to say that I had to go to the podium. I would have liked to take the yellow jersey in a different way, but now that we have it we'll defend it. We'll take it stage by stage. Tomorrow, on the Mont Aigoual, it will be one hell of a battle."
The peloton departed Gap with no one willing to be the first to attack. Despite a half hearted attempt by Kasper Asgreen four kilometres in, it was universally agreed upon to spend the day recovering on the flat, mostly downhill stage to prepare for what's to come.
During the intermediate sprint, Sam Bennett challenged Sagan for the lead, and was successful. The Irish sprinter was the fastest over the line and provisionally took the lead in the sprint competition, and later solidified it in the finale.
"The green jersey? Yes, it could be our objective," Bennett said. "I'm happy to have got it today [from Peter Sagan]. I was so concentrated on the green jersey that I almost forgot to try and go for the win. It's a completely new experience for me. I'm happy to be wearing it. In the last two kilometres, I could feel that I just didn't quite have the legs to win".
On the way to the finish, there were two category four climbs to clear, and Benoit Cosnefroy picked up two extra points to add to his lead in the KOM competion.
"It was an easier day and not too intense," Cosnefroy said. "I have to admit, it did me good. It helped me to recover after the efforts I've made since the start of the Tour to wear this Polka Dot Jersey. I've picked up just two points on category 4 slopes. It may seem like nothing, but they could be important for the next few days. I would have liked to have had a bigger say in the finale, but my legs told me to take it easy".
The pace finally picked up with about 20 kilometres to go, and Sunweb executed a fantastic lead out for their sprint hopeful Cees Bol. However, Van Aert capitalised on it and nipped Bol at the line. Bennett rounded out the podium. \n
Get our full coverage of the Tour de France and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
