Et was a spectacle of dust and sweat for all, with tears for some. A kilometer-long, never-ending exchange of blows, breathless cycling action with a sometimes insane sequence of race-decisive events. The fifth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday more than kept what it promised. With a surprise winner, some upheaval in the standings and the realization that Tadej Pogacar is on track to also become the 2022 Tour Patron.
The short 154-kilometer stage with eleven cobblestone sectors demanded everything from man and machine, as illustrated by the many crashes and defects. “It was extremely fast and extremely hectic,” said German racing driver Maximilian Schachmann. “And in the end it was a elimination run.” With a triumph in Arenberg for the 35-year-old Australian Simon Clarke, who distanced the Dutchman Taco van der Hoorn by a few centimeters in the sprint. The pros from the five-strong breakaway group of the day decided to win after a 128-kilometer run. Belgian Wout van Aert stayed in the yellow jersey. The best German was Max Walscheid in 13th place.
Last year’s winner Pogacar delivered an impressive performance on its own behalf, which should have had a demoralizing effect on the competition. The Slovene also showed his extra class on the rumble slopes and distanced himself from the other drivers by a few seconds after he and a companion broke away from a group that also included the German racing team Bora-hansgrohe around captain Alexander Wlassow (now 37th place). seconds behind Pogacar) was well represented. There was no sign of Pogacar’s own helpers from the UAE Emirates team for a long time. The sign that the 23-year-old, who had already had the yellow jersey for a while, sent out on Wednesday: If necessary, I can win on my own.
Wout van Aert was also responsible for the fact that Pogacar was not able to strike the big blow against the competitors on the fifth stage, but “only” made up 13 seconds. The Belgian, who shaped the first days of the tour, played no role at the top of the field. Having fallen early himself and almost collided with a vehicle shortly afterwards, the Belgian provided excellent damage limitation help for his Jumbo-Visma team. And also pulled other stumbling favorites such as Geraint Thomas in the slipstream.
Van Aert’s Team Jumbo-Visma was on the verge of shipwreck in northern France. Bizarre scenes played out when the Danish co-favorite Jonas Vingegaard suffered a defect 35 kilometers from the finish and then couldn’t cope with two bikes that were quickly passed on by teammates before the team vehicle delivered a replacement. It took Van Aerts enormous pressure on the pedals while chasing back until the connection to the group around Wlassow was finally made shortly before the finish. “It wasn’t what we imagined. A crap day,” said Van Aert.
Because the dual leadership of his team, which should devote itself to hunting Pogacar, is overridden. Vingegaard is now 21 seconds behind the defending champion and Primoz Roglic is more than two minutes behind. The Vuelta winner dislocated a shoulder in a violent fall. When this could not be straightened again immediately, he then sat on a spectator’s chair and straightened the joint with “special technology”, reported Roglic.
The adage that you can’t win the tour on a section of treacherous cobblestones in northern France, but you can lose it, came true for him in a bitter way. The Slovene was the most prominent victim of the spectacle in the “Hell of the North” – the suffix to the name of the classic Paris-Roubaix, which was held in the pavé sectors in spring. Last year, months of preparation proved to be in vain for Roglic when he had to end the tour after a fall in the first week of the race.
The dusty show really began in the afternoon when the first pavement sectors were tackled, some at 60 km/h. Duels, manoeuvres, accidents and breakdowns shaped the picture. Tactics were forged and then evaporated, and some things were decided in the midst of chaos, profanely by good or bad luck. Only Tadej Pogacar seems to be above such categories.
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Tour de France Etappen 2022
