Tour peloton awaits first challenge on northern French cobblestones
One of the biggest challenges of this edition awaits the riders in the Tour de France on Wednesday. The fifth stage leads from Lille to Arenberg Porte Du Hainaut. There are no fewer than eleven cobbled sections along the way, some of which are known from the spring classic Paris-Roubaix. The start is at 2 p.m. The finish, near the famous Forest of Wallers, is expected around a quarter past five.
Wout van Aert rides in the yellow jersey for the third day. The Belgian from Jumbo-Visma stunted on Tuesday by taking off alone in the leader’s jersey on a climb shortly before Calais and thus winning the fourth stage. He is also expected at the front on the cobblestones, just like Mathieu van der Poel and Dylan van Baarle, specialists on the irregular surface.
Fabio Jakobsen, as number 2 in the points classification behind Van Aert, again wears the green jersey, the Dane Magnus Cort still leads the mountains classification.
