A largely uneventful – verging on dull – fifth stage of the Tour de France followed a flat 177km run from the base of the Alps to Saint-Vulbas, a small village near Lyon, but it was livened up by perhaps only two events.
First and foremost, there were the events of the closing sprint as Mark Cavendish dashed to that record-breaking 35th Tour stage victory he and his Astana Qazaqstan team have fought towards over the past two seasons.
Secondly, there was the brush with disaster that befell race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 59km from the finish line. The yellow jersey, riding towards the front of the peloton, narrowly avoided a warning set in the middle of a two-lane road split and managed to just about manoeuvre his way around it at the last split-second.
Behind the Slovenian, there was carnage as several riders, each squeezing into space which no longer existed, hit the deck. Pogačar admitted later that it was a lucky escape, with his bike handling instincts coming to the rescue in the nick of time.
"My bike handling skills were good, but my reaction time wasn't," he said. "I almost hit the ground. I'm lucky to have avoided that one. I'm happy that the stage is over. It's one day less and we keep on."
WOW! What a save by Pogačar 😱 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/FFRmdUNpmkJuly 3, 2024
Following that incident, there would be no further pitfalls for Pogačar to avoid on the sprint stage and so the maillot jaune rolled across the line in 35th place, glad to keep his race lead, and indeed his race, intact.
Afterwards, he could celebrate another day in yellow on the podium and also congratulate Cavendish on beating Eddy Merckx's longstanding record. As the pair readied themselves for the podium ceremony, Cavendish gave him a playful squeeze to his face, saying, "don't beat it," referring to his new record.
"No I won't, no worries," Pogačar replied, with he and his 12 stage wins not close to the legendary sprinter. Not yet, anyway.
Later, Pogačar spoke of how he – 14 years a junior to the 39-year-old Cavendish – watched the Manxman winning stages as he grew up.
"When I was a kid, I was watching Mark with my friends and my brother," he said. "He was just a hero to so many guys. He was winning in such a class with the team together. Now I'm already racing against him for six years. We became quite good friends, I would say. Winning the 35th stage, he's historical company.
"Mark asked me behind the podium 'Please don't break this record' so I will let him have it," he joked.
Barring any further mishaps on stage 6, another flat, sprinter-friendly outing, Pogačar's next great challenge at the Tour will come on Friday in the race's solitary time trial, a hilly 25.3km run from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.
Riders on the Tour constantly talk about 'taking the race day-by-day', and no doubt Pogačar's mind will be on the same mantra as the race delves deeper into France following its Italian Grande Partenza.
Still, he expressed his confidence in his time trialling abilities and materials, which he said had improved even since his dominant display during the first half of his Giro-Tour double bid back in May.
"I was already feeling good in the Giro and I think after the Giro we improved a bit also on material, bringing down the weight of the bike," Pogačar said. "I can't wait to see how I can do. I'll go with full confidence facing against Remco, the best time trialist in the world probably, plus Roglič and Vingegaard. I'm confident.
"He's in good shape," he added when asked about reigning world time trial champion Evenepoel. "I've never raced so much with him so I can't really tell you if he's in the best shape ever on the bike. Definitely he's improving from the Critérium du Dauphiné and he's in a good shape here so I think you can see him flying in the time trial."
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Tour de France - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage of the race as it happens and more. Find out more.
Cav: "Don't beat it!" 😂Sir Mark Cavendish had a message for Tadej Pogačar after winning his 35th stage of the Tour de France 👏😅🎥 Watch Tour de France highlights: https://t.co/dxBOvuRU05_______________🇫🇷 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/sdE9TH72feJuly 3, 2024
