The fifth stage was the focus of the cobblestones. Only in the final sprint was the decision about the stage win made. There is also a change in the overall leader.
Simon Clarke has won stage five of the 109th Tour de France. The Australian won Wednesday’s difficult stretch over the cobblestone sections of northern France in a breakaway sprint ahead of Dutchman Taco van der Hoorn. Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen took third place on the 153.7 kilometer stretch from Lille to Arenberg. A total of eleven cobblestone sectors with a total length of 19.4 kilometers had to be mastered.
In the general classification, Belgian Wout van Aert successfully defended the leader’s yellow jersey. Of the contenders for overall victory, however, only defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who is fourth, 19 seconds behind van Aert, was unscathed. Primoz Roglic, last year’s second Jonas Vingegaard and Alexander Wlassow lost valuable time.