TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 | STAGE 5 | PAU > LARUNS
After Phil Anderson, Stuart O’Grady, Bradley McGee, Robbie McEwen, Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans and Rohan Dennis, Jai Hindley became the eighth Australian in the yellow jersey as he soloed to victory in Laruns after making a smart move in a numerous breakaway from far out on his Tour de France debut! Jonas Vingegaard bettered arch-rival Tadej Pogecar in the first Pyrenean stage.
PIERRE LATOUR FIRST IN ACTION
The start proper of stage 5 was given at 13.24 to 172 riders. Non-starters: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first rider to go clear at km 3.
He was brought back at km 19 as the peloton remained very active with many breakaway attempts. 36 riders gathered at the front at km 28: Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grossschartner, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret Peintre (Ag2r-Citröen), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (Dsm-firmenich), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traeen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies). This group was formed after Cavagna and Mühlberger broke away at km 24.
THE STRONG SHOWING OF PEDERSEN, VAN AERT AND CAMPENAERTS BEFORE COL DU SOUDET
Four riders escaped from that group at km 45: Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts. Coquard won the intermediate sprint at km 48 and sat up, leaving a trio at the front while UAE Team Emirates seized the reins of the peloton, two minutes behind. At the beginning of the ascent to col du Soudet, the first HC climb of the 110th Tour de France, Pedersen let Van Aert and Campenaerts at the front while Lopez was pulling the chasing group at the service of Ciccone. The Belgian duo got reeled in 2.5km before the summit.
Gall attacked one kilometre further. He reached the top alone in the lead while Martinez outsprinted Ciccone for the second place. 17 riders gathered together at the front when Neilands rode away solo with 53.5km to go.
© A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
HINDLEY BY HIMSELF WITH 20KM TO GO
Alaphilippe and Van Aert caught up with Neilands at col d’Ichère (cat. 3) with 38km remaining. At the bottom of Marie-Blanque, the second major climb of the day, the deficit of the peloton was 3 minutes. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands were reeled in with 24km to go. 4km before the summit, Hindley attacked with Gall. Hindley went solo 20km before the finish. Vingegaard also attacked 1km before the summit and Pogacar could go with him. Hindley crested Marie-Blanque alone in the lead and kept going till he crossed the finish alone with a great emotion. Vingegaard recovered enough time to reach the line 34’’ after the Australian who has 47 seconds lead over the defending champion in the overall ranking while Pogacar is 1’40’’ adrift.
JAI HINDLEY: “FOR MY FIRST TOUR, IT’S INCREDIBLE”
“This was not really the plan. We kinda improvised out there, it was a way to enjoy bike racing. I found myself in that group and enjoyed. It’s really incredible. The guys in the radio were just screaming about riding to the line… I couldn’t hear anything else. I wanted to put as much as time as possible on the GC, and win the stage… and now find myself in the yellow jersey.”
“I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s my first Tour and it’s hard to come here with such massive ambitions already. I wanted to be competitive, be on the hunt for success. And I just one a stage, which is pretty incredible. Thanks to my family, my girlfriend, my fans, everyone who supported me throughout my whole career… and I’m just so thankful to everyone.”
WOUT VAN AERT: “THE LAST CLIMB WAS TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME TO WIN THE STAGE”
“It was a hard stage and my goal was to make the front group. Being three from the team there has been useful for helping Jonas [Vingegaard] put pressure on the other teams. We also wanted to make Giulio Ciccone and Jai Hindley tired. Jai looks very strong these days. I would have liked to try and win the stage but the last climb would have been too difficult for me. It’s a good thing for the team to have gained one minute on Tadej Pogacar, we didn’t expect to do so well. I’m happy to have been able to help Jonas and apparently he’s got very good legs.”
FELIX GALL: “I’M SURPRISED WE GOT TWO MINUTES LEAD”
“I was very happy to be part of the breakaway and even happier that we were three with Clément Berthet and Aurélien Paret-Peintre who helped me tremendously. I focused on the points for the polka dot jersey even though we had two minutes lead. I was surprised that we could get such a gap. Moreover I’m happy to have found my legs again because I wasn’t going that well in the first few days. Tomorrow, it’ll be another hard mountain stage. I’ll see if I can break away again. The good news is that I’ve improved and I’m more consistent this year.”
JASPER PHILIPSEN: “I NEED TO PAY ATTENTION”
“It was a tough day. Even though it was a fast start, I enjoyed my day in green. It’s a special day for me and for the team. In the beginning I suffered on the big climb. Then we found a nice group to go over it. I covered the stage quite economically. We just need to pay some attention [to my green jersey challengers]. As of now, I’m thinking more of the next sprint opportunities.”
TADEJ POGACAR: “I’M SAD FOR MY GIRLFRIEND’S CRASH AT GIRO DONNE, NOT FOR LOSING A MINUTE”
“After the race I was feeling pretty good, but soon afterwards I got sad because I heard my girlfriend Urska has crashed in the Giro Donne, and that she maybe has a concussion. That’s sad news – way sadder than losing 50” or 1’00” to Jonas. Let’s go day by day. It’s the first mountain stage and the situation has changed quite a bit for my team. We now need to gain time back, and of course to keep fighting. I don’t know if Jonas’ attack was a surprise. He could see that I was on my limit during the last two kilometres of the Marie Blanque climb, after the Jumbo team sped up. He went on the attack and I couldn’t follow, because he was stronger today. There was not much I could do. I hope for better legs tomorrow. I feel okay – that’s the most important thing.”
