Mark Cavendish (Team Astana Qazaqstan) celebrated his long-awaited 35th stage victory in the Tour de France on the fifth stage of the day from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. This makes him the sole record holder for stage wins on the Tour. Behind him is the great Eddy Merckx with 34 victories per day.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) came second in this high-speed final after 177.4 kilometers ahead of Alexander Kristoff (Uno X-Mobility). Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates UAE) continues to wear the yellow jersey. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) took the green jersey and was therefore leading in the points classification.
This is how the 5th stage of the Tour de France 202 went4
At the start of the fifth stage, neither team was interested in trying to break out. On the one hand, it was very clear that all the sprinters had marked the red day on their calendars, and on the other hand, the wind was blowing from the front. A Spanish duo made the first attempt to break out, although not to be taken seriously: Juan Ayuso (Team Emirates UAE) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar). Although both didn’t go much faster than the peloton, they were quickly ahead by around 45 seconds. After a few kilometers, this escape attempt was history again.
For the first time there was real movement in the peloton as the two Swiss time trial specialists Stefan Küng and Stefan Bisseger were a few seconds ahead of the field. But understandably they didn’t get a free pass.
French breakaway duo
In contrast to Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ), who was allowed to donate. Just like Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies), who followed him. Both extend the lead to almost five minutes. The first mountain classification on the Côte du Cheval Blanc (Cat 4, km 104.6) went to Clément Russo “without a fight”.
There was excitement on the field for the first time when carelessness fell. The yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, almost fell but was able to avoid it. Behind him, among others, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Nelson Oliveira and Gregor Mühlberger (both Movistar Team) went down. Fortunately, no one appeared to be injured.
The intermediate sprint in Aoste also went to Clément Russo. The intermediate sprint of the field, launched by Intermarché-Wanty and Arkéa-B&B Hotels, was more competitive: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was ahead of Sam Bennett (Decathlon Team AG2R La Mondiale) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), who were his ambitions for the green jersey.
The outliers were caught 1.3 kilometers before the second and final mountain classification. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), who wore the mountain jersey (Uno-X Mobility) one point on the Côte de Lhuis, will also wear the polka dot jersey in the next three stages.
The field entered the final four kilometers at a speed of 70 km/h. Lotto Dstny and Intermarché-Wanty were in the lead. Lotto DSTNY went through the last corner 2.3 kilometers before the finish first, followed by Team Astana Qazaqstan. At 1.6 kilometers Alpecin-Deceuninck took the lead with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen. Cavendish opened himself to sprint from further back, then drove out of the slipstream the leading Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech), changed sides and won the sprint with a lead of almost a bike length. A few positions behind, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) fell.
Mark Cavendish in an interview with the winner
“I can’t believe it” – that was the first sentence of a struggling Mark Cavendish after his overwhelming victory. “It was a big risk to be here and try to win here. A big risk for my boss. This shows that he is a former rider and knows what the ride is all about. We just did it. We did what we wanted. Every detail in terms of content and teammates was tailored to the sprint.”
Results of the 5th stage of the Tour de France 2024
Daily ranking
1. Mark Cavendish (Team Astana Qazaqstan)
2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
3. Alexander Kristoff (Uno X-Mobility)
Yellow sweater | Full rating
1. Tadej Pogacar (Team UAE Emirates) + 0:45
2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Stage) + 0:45
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Bike Lease) + 0:50
White sweater | Ranking of young talent
1. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Stage)
2. Juan Ayuso (Team Emirates UAE) + 0:25
3. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) + 0:31.
Green sweater | Scoring
1. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 102 Puncte
2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 94 Points
3. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 87 Points
Polka dot jumper | Mountain classification
1. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 25 Points
2. Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates UAE) 20 points
3. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) 16 points