Stage 5 was meant to commemorate the start of World War I and was raced through the battlefields of Flanders Fields. Using the analogy of war to talk about this stage would be disrespectful to our veterans, but in the context of sport this was as close as it gets.
The stage certainly lived up to expectations in terms of the amount of drama it produced. The biggest news of the day was that Chris Froome crashed twice and had to abandon the Tour. It was the first time since 1980 that a defending Tour champion had to abandon (the last was Bernard Hinault because of a knee injury). We spoke to Race doctor Florence Pommerie after Froome’s crash yesterday and she said while no fracture was visible in x-rays, it didn’t rule out the possibility that a bone had been damaged.
On a rain-soaked day of racing, it was carnage on the slippery roads as many riders touched down on the pavé, but Chris Froome was the only DNF. Lars Boom took an enormous victory in Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut, Vincenzo Nibali rode an incredible race to increase his lead over his overall classification contenders, while Alberto Contador lost more time than many of the other GC contenders.
Click here for the full race results and report from Stage 5 of the 2014 Tour de France.
Enjoy the photos from stage 5 courtesy of BrakeThrough Media (follow on Instagram and Twitter) and Cor Vos.
- Eddy Merckx and King Philippe of Belgium visit the riders before the start of the stage held in Ypres.
- Chris Froome’s bandaged hand before the race.
- With 6.7km remaining Lars Boom made his race-winning move, attacking on the final sector of cobbles and gapping Nibali and Fuglsang. He powered away, holding on to a 19-second lead as he crossed the line in heavy rain, with Fuglsang second ahead of Nibali.
- Lars Boom averaged 47kph over 155 kilometers to win the stage, the biggest victory of his career. Boom is a former World Cyclocross Champion (2008).
- Fabian Cancellara was one of the pre-stage favourites, but came in 5th place. The best ride of the day perhaps goes to Vincenzo Nibali who extended his overall race lead on his rivals and put in a magnificent ride over the pavé. In 2006 Nibali said, “Roubaix is the race of my dreams. It fascinates me, maybe because I like mountain biking. I’d like to win it one day”
- Sagan’s fourth place on the stage (after sprinting past Cancellara and Orica-GreenEdge’s Jens Keukeleire) gives him a 50 point lead in the points classification and he still leads the best young rider classification as well.
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- Richie Porte had a good stage coming in 20th, only 2 minutes down on the stage which puts him into 8th position in the overall classification. With Chris Froome abandoning the race, Porte will now step into Sky’s GC leadership role.
- Alberto Contador was the biggest loser today in the overall classification (besides Froome). He lost time on Nibali and now sits in 37th spot, almost 3 minutes down.
- Lars Boom on the podium after the biggest win of his career.
