Mark Cavendish and all the other sprinters finished inside the time limit in Valloire after climbing into the French Alps from Italy and then over the Col du Galibier on stage 4 at the Tour de France.
Their day of suffering earned them two shots at a sprint victory on stage 5 to the village of Saint-Vulbas on Wednesday and then in Dijon on Thursday. It is a fair reward for swapping their sprinting speed to fight gravity.
The Astana Qazaqstan riders again packed the bottom of the stage result but again carefully paced their effort to ensure that they stayed in the game.
Directeur sportif Mark Renshaw revealed to Cyclingnews that the team uses AI software to calculate the pace and power they need to ride on the climbs and their well-made plans delivered.
The time limit for the stage was calculated at 40:48 after Tadej Pogačar crossed the line alone and gained time on Jonas Vingegaard and everyone else.
Cavendish, Cees Bol and Michael Mørkøv were all part of the last gruppetto to finish at 36:11. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) was last to finish, with Fabio Jakobsen (Dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) also in the gruppetto.
Stage 3 winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Arnaud De lie (Lotto-Dstny), Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility), Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) were all in another gruppetto just two minutes ahead.
They will surely invert the stage results as the terrain flatters and suits their speed and power and as Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates look for allies in controlling the race and the long ride out of the Alps into the plains and vineyards to the east of Lyon.
Stage 5 details and lead-out tactics
Wednesday’s 177.4km fifth stage starts in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in the Savoie department and at the foot of the Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier. The valley road leads to Chambéry and then the l’Ain department not far from Geneva and the Swiss border before cutting northwest to finish in Saint-Vulbas.
The stage includes two categorised climbs and a few others, but they are French cotes and not the high Alps. The Côte du Cheval Blanc comes after 104.6 km the Côte de l’Huis with 34.6km to go. The intermediate sprint comes after 123.2km and so there is unlikely to be a battle amongst the sprinters to go on the attack as Mads Pedersen did on stage 4.
The wide country roads of the final 30 kilometres seem ideal for chasing down any breakaways, with multiple sprint teams surely ready to do the work.
The final kilometres are always vital when a sprint is expected. The run-in to Saint-Vulbas includes two sweeping right turns on roundabouts inside the final three kilometres, with a final slight turn right or kink in the road with 250 metres to go. The speed will surely be close to 70 km/h at that point, and the finish line comes into view with 250 metres to go.
The lead-out trains will probably fight for position in the final ten kilometres and especially for the two right turns inside the final three kilometres. When the sprinters see the finish barrier it will be a perfect moment to start their sprint.
Watch Mathieu van der Poel try to lead out Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Philipsen as he did so well in the 2023 Tour. They are looking to make up for a disrupted stage 3 sprint, when van der Poel punctured with six kilometres to go and Philipsen was caught in the late crash. If the Belgian sprinter wants to target a second green points jersey, he will need to score significant points in Saint-Vulbas.
Girmay and Pedersen have shown they are targeting the green jersey and will surely be up front on Wednesday, as will Gaviria, Bennett, Kristoff, Groenewegen, De Lie, Jakobsen, Arnaud Demare and Bryan Coquard.
Cavendish is looking for that 35th stage victory. Some thought he might even struggle to finish the stage over the Galibier. But he is still in the game and still hungry to win.
