After its venture into the Netherlands and Belgium, the 2015 Tour de France finally entered France today for its 5th stage. The riders suffered through a rainy and windy ride of 189.5 kilometers through the battlefields of World War One from Arras to Amiens that was ultimately marred with seven crashes.
Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel won the bunch sprint at the end of the stage, taking his second win of this year’s race and bolstering his lead in the points classification.
With 350 metres to go, Greipel was still a bit boxed in, but was able to make his way to the front to best Tinkoff-Saxo’s Peter Sagan and Etixx-Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish at the line. The victory netted him another fifty points and he’ll wear the green jersey for the fourth day in a row tomorrow.
“With 350 metres to go I didn’t look so good, I was a bit boxed in,” said Greipel. “But when I got more space, I gave all I got. It was a tough finish, the kilometre before the last five hundred metres wasn’t completely flat and there was a headwind. I think it was a pure sprint. There was no lead-out for any of us, it was man to man. Sagan moved up quickly at the left, I hadn’t seen him, but it’s the result at the finish line that counts.”
“I could count on a strong Marcel Sieberg again, who perfectly led me to the front; he is in the shape of his life. Also Tony Gallopin and Lars Bak did more than just their job. Because of the injuries of Adam and Greg we had to change our strategy, but the team was strong as always. As a sprinter it’s a luxury to have such a dedicated team,” he concluded.
Peter Sagan Happy with Second
Peter Sagan, still wearing the white jersey of best young rider, is happy this his team leader Contador finished unscathed, while he was able to grab 2ndplace in the final sprint André Greipel.
Sagan missed the victory by a slim margin after coming fast from behind. He took his third top-three at Tour de France and voiced that the outcome of the day was very positive.
“Today the team did a nice race and Alberto finished safely and I got 2nd place just missing a little bit,” Sagan said . “I was too far back in the last hundred meters and I was just a little bit late but overall it was good. I was simply too far back in 10th position with a hundred meters to go and I couldn’t catch Greipel. It’s hard to beat a rider like him and I’m happy with my 2nd place. I was free to do my own race in the last five kilometers and I tried to position myself but a lot of riders came from behind and I had too many meters to make up in the final hundred meters.”
‘Nothing wrong’ for Cavendish
Mark Cavendish finished 3rd behind stage winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), and 2nd place finisher Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo).
“It was a bit chaotic,” Cavendish said. “I went around Sagan and I kicked, and I saw Demare kick, and on his right Kristoff. So if I pass I could drag strip Kristoff into the finish. Greipel and Sagan just came around past me at the end. I didn’t feel great in the sprint, but no one felt great after a stage like today. I was going OK, but they just were going faster. Nothing went wrong. We were a man short in the end as Matteo was not 100 percent after his crash today. But really I was just beaten by two very strong guys. One of them already won a stage, this is his second, and he’s in the green jersey. So congratulations to Greipel as he deserves this victory. My teammates efforts today in setting me up for the sprint, and protecting Tony in yellow, absolutely complemented each other.”
Another day in Yellow for Tony Martin
Etixx – Quick-Step successfully kept Martin protected, with UCI World Road Champion Michal Kwiatkowski constantly guiding the German rider in the peloton.
“I couldn’t sleep so well last night,” Martin said. “I fell asleep maybe at 2 o’clock in the morning and woke up early again, But it was OK for me. I woke up feeling well, thinking directly about the yellow jersey. It gave me a lot of power and morale today in the race. I hope I can find more sleep in the next nights, or else I won’t see Paris (laughs). As for the race, I tried to do my job for Cav in the finale. I wanted to lead him until the last kilometer and a half, and stay safe for yellow.”
“I just want to keep yellow as long as possible, but I am also realistic that when the big mountains come I probably cannot stay with the best riders. Especially since I didn’t train for those kinds of stages.. My goal is to stay in yellow until the TTT, not the big mountains,” Martin concluded.
Van Garderen holds third
Tejay van Garderen kept his hold on third place, 25 seconds off the lead.
Van Garderen said the weather conditions made it far from a relaxing ride on stage that featured only one bonus sprint and no categorized climbs.
“Everyone thought today was going to be the relaxed day of the tour,” van Garderen said. “But the wind and the rain made it anything but relaxed. Luckily, I have one of the strongest teams here. All the guys just sat on the front all day. I never had to leave third position. It costs a bit of energy, but it is worth it to stay ahead of the splits and the crashes.”
Thursday another one for the sprinters
Thursday’s sixth stage is another mostly flat stage for sprinters, taking the pack over 191.5 kilometers (119 miles) from Abbeville to Le Havre, France’s biggest commercial port.
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