Tour de France Stage 5 Recap, One Hot Flat Day

Today’s Stage 5 of the Tour de France started in Éparnay, France, the capital of the champagne region.  Too bad the riders couldn’t partake being teased with the surrounding vineyards, some of the best in the world, but such is the lot of these world-class cyclists’ dietary restrictions in their quest to endure through 3613 kilometers (2245 miles) of pedaling in 21 days.

This stage which was 187.5 kilometers long started with a couple of category 4 climbs early on but then went flat and stayed that way all the way into Motargis, France, which is nicknamed the Venice of the Gâtinas because the town has over 130 bridges and walkways.  The heat and the sun beat down on the riders relentlessly reaching some 305 degrees!  Okay, that’s degrees in Kelvin, it was actually over 30 Celsius (over 90 Fahrenheit) and the riders were gulping a lot more fluid than normal fighting dehydration during their 4-1/2 hours on the road which kept their support riders very busy hop-scotching back and forth between the ‘protected’ riders and the team cars, loading up with as many water bottles as they could carry.  You’d almost wish the Tour would bend tradition and allow some kind of bottle harness for the poor domestiques on days like today!  These – for the most part – unsung riders are amazing workhorses.

As expected for this stage there was a very early break that was able to keep away most of the day, at one point gaining some 7-1/2 minutes on the field, consisting of Quick Step’s Jurgen Van De Walle, Caisse d’Epargne’s Jose Ivan Gutierrez and Cofidis’ Julien El Fares.  Saxo Bank finally gave chase and reeled them in to a manageable 2-minute lead realizing that Gutierrez was in virtual yellow at one point because he was only 3:24 down in the General Classification behind their yellow jersey rider Fabian Cancellara, ‘Spartacus.’  Once the break was in this manageable position, the peloton relaxed and let them have their lead all day through some of the beautiful scenery of northern France, at one point going past Paris just some 35 kilometers to the west.

The sprinter’s teams; HTC Columbia, Cervélo, Lampre, Garmin-Transitions, also did some work on the day trying to figure out how to keep their sprinters out of trouble and strategically placed for the final blast to the finish.  But many of the teams including Team RadioShack, trying for the overall GC win, stayed back a bit and let the others pull them through the day with little motivation to joust for position on such a stage.  When this occurs some call it a rolling rest, a day off in the saddle.  I always love that phrase because I can’t imagine pedaling for 116+ miles and calling it a rest.  But for Team RadioShack, that’s what it was, a chance to stay out of trouble, not use up too much energy, and continue to heal from all the crashes of the first 5 days.

At about 15 kilometers the HTC-Columbia team all went to the front to ensure that the break was swallowed, and they started pulling them in with some determination.  They were not happy with yesterday’s result in which their sprinting star Mark Cavendish appeared to have some technical difficulties, perhaps with his shoes, that left him in the wake of sprinters that he normally eats for breakfast.  At about 6.3 kilometers to go Gutierrez decided he had nothing to lose and dug deep to walk away from the 3-man break, as he knew the peloton was only 22 seconds back.  An exceptional time trialist, it was his only play, but almost no one watching thought he could stay in front of the hungry animal that the peloton often resembles.  At about 4 kilometers to go Gutierrez looked over his shoulder and saw that ugly sight that every breakaway rider hates, a huge bunch of world-class competitors all of the same mind, keeping you from having your victory.  And they did.

It was a classic bunch sprint that showed that HTC-Columbia is back in form, and looking invincible again on the sprints.  Their Mark Renshaw showed why he is one of the best lead-out men in the business and Cavendish showed he’s still the man to beat with the going gets flat.

Team RadioShack once again, stayed out of trouble, stayed upright, and stayed in contention.  The General Classification did not change today and so The Shack still has 5 riders in the hunt (see the ‘Serious Contenders List’ at the end of the Stage 3 Recap story titled, Tire Shredding Cobbles).  Tomorrow looks to be another long day in the saddle with the longest stage of the race a 227.5-kilometer dehydration competition that will most likely again be contested by a big bunch sprint, though it might just possibly yield to a breakaway.  Lets hope our boys find a way to deplete themselves as little as possible cause those coming mountain battles will be fierce.  The first real uphill test comes on Sunday with a 204.5-kilometer mountain stage that includes the 2000 meter Col de la Madeleine.  We’ll then see who among the contenders came to climb.  No big revelation; you’ll be reading a lot about Team RadioShack and not much at all about sprinters come Sunday.

Stage 5 results

By George Hurst, staff writer