2020 Tour de France Stage 5 News, Notes and Quotes

Here’s the latest news, notes and quotes for the 2020 Tour de France Stage 5

Yates Moves into Yellow

British climber Adam Yates of the Mitchelton-Scott-SCOTT team has moved into the race lead as a bizarre day at the Tour de France ended in a predicted bunch sprint.

Yates sat second overall heading into stage five, but has been catapulted into the yellow jersey following a time penalty given to former race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick Step).

Slovenian sprinter Luka Mezgec got up for sixth place in the final, handing the 32-year-old his first top-10 stage finish on his Tour debut.

No Break

It was an unusual start to the stage with no reaction coming from the peloton as the flag dropped. With the day destined for a sprint finish and a strong headwind, no rider seemed willing to force a breakaway attempt, resulting in an unfamiliar sight as the pack rolled along at a leisurely pace without a breakaway ahead.

The tempo was eventually increased with around 50km to go, with teams wary of the approaching technical roads as they passed through several towns. The speed then dropped again as the race passed over the first of the category four climbs, before the threat of strong winds sparked the peloton to life.

A headwind turned quickly into a crosswind inside the final 10km, but despite some short-lived echelons appearing, little damaged was caused as the focus turned to the looming sprint finish.

Sprint Ahead

Kiwi Jack Bauer and South African Daryl Impey were the men to guide Mezgec into position in the finale, with Impey dropping his teammate off on the wheel of Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) inside the final kilometre.

Cees Bol (Team Sunweb) was the first to open up the sprint, causing a reaction from Van Aert, Mezgec followed, but was unable to match the speed of the Belgian, who sprinted to victory.

Unexpected Yellow

An uneventful stage looked to have passed without drama until news filtered through of Alaphilippe’s sanction for an unauthorised feed inside the final 20km. The penalty for the Frenchman puts Yates top of the general classification by three seconds heading into stage six.

Yates becomes the third rider in GreenEDGE Cycling’s history to pull on the maillot jaune after Impey and Simon Gerrans, who both wore the jersey for two days each in 2013.

“It was really calm day, I mean there was no breakaway and we just cruised for the first 100km or so and then it got pretty nervous there in the final, there was a little bit of wind towards the end, a little bit of crosswinds,” said Yates at the finish. “It’s not the way I imagined taking the jersey, I’m not even sure what’s happened to Julian, I heard he got a time penalty for taking a feed late or something.

“I don’t think any rider would want to take yellow under these circumstances, I’d prefer to take it with my legs rather than the result of a time penalty. I didn’t even find out until I was in the bus and showered. I feel bad for him.”

“Tomorrow I was looking to try and take the jersey anyway, so I guess we’ll just try and go in with the same tactic, try and win the stage and see what happens.”

Luka Mezgec: “We knew it [the finish] was going to harder and more technical, as a team we like that. The boys did a great job, just in the last three kilometres I wasn’t efficient enough, I had to brake too many times, I lost the position and had to make it up again, just that unnecessary loss of speed.

“But then with one and half kilometres to go I knew I had to do a big effort to come back when I saw Daryl and Jack on the front. I knew it was crucial to be in position with one kilometre to go, I did that. But that finished my legs off.

“But anyway, it was good to be up there, with just a little bit smoother ride from my side into the final and I can do more.”

Sam Bennett Seizes Green

Sam Bennett became the first Irish rider in more than three decades to lead a Tour de France classification, after racking up 40 points during Wednesday’s stage 5 from Gap to Privas (183 kilometers). A man on a mission at the start of the day, the 29-year-old showed his intentions early, at the intermediate sprint, where a masterful lead-out of Michael Mørkøv left him in a perfect position to take maximum points in L’Épine.

Going into the final kilometers of this stage – which featured narrow roads and a series of roundabouts – Bennett remained in the wheel of his experienced lead-out man as he moved through up the peloton before the uphill drag to the line. Despite having to come from behind, Sam unleashed a huge acceleration that saw him gain several positions and conclude the stage won by Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in third position.

The points picked up in Privas, combined with those at the intermediate sprint, helped the Irish Champion climb into the lead of the green jersey standings for the first time in his career, a performance which gave him a lot of satisfaction, despite missing out on the stage win.

“It was a really hectic sprint, and to be honest, at three kilometers to go I felt that I didn’t have the legs to sprint anymore. The final was really difficult, I could feel that as we were approaching the line. I was focused today on taking the green jersey and having it and following in the footsteps of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche feels amazing. I am delighted and proud with it and want to enjoy this moment and continue fighting for green.”

Unfortunately, Julian Alaphilippe lost the yellow jersey at the end of the day, after the jury penalized him 20 seconds for taking a bottle inside the last 20 kilometers of the stage. The only Frenchman to have won a stage so far at this edition, Julian sits now in 16th place, 16 seconds behind Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), the race’s new leader.

 

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