tour de france stage 4 sprint

Sur le plan sportif, "il y a un petit risque de vent dans le final lorsqu'on passe dans la plaine. Mais c'est vraiment très très plat", avant une arrivée "superbe" en très léger faux-plat, ajoute le directeur technique de la Grande Boucle.

Resté en jaune mercredi après son coup de force en haut du Galibier, le Slovène Tadej Pogacar devrait, sauf incident, conserver sa tunique de leader.

Une échappée pourrait se former, mais il y a peu de chances que l'étape file entre les doigts des sprinteurs sur la ligne droite finale de 800 mètres dans la préfecture de la Côte-d'Or, ville-étape pour la 14e fois.

"Un deuxième jour de suite au sprint, c'est le maximum qu'on s'autorise", souligne Thierry Gouvenou.

Les coureurs du classement général vont à nouveau entrer en action dès vendredi lors d'un chrono très attendu entre Nuits-Saint-Georges et Gevrey-Chambertin, là aussi "des endroits pas dégoûtants" du tout.

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Tour de France Stage 4 Preview: Expect Another Exciting Sprint Finish

All eyes will again be on the Tour's fast men, especially Mark Cavendish.

Stage 4 - Dax to Nogaro (181.8km) - Tuesday, July 4

Stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France should offer another opportunity for the sprinters to take center stage. The day begins in Dax, not far from the home of French legend Andre Derrigarde, who won 22 stages at the Tour between 1953 and 1964.

It’s a pretty straightforward stage with a lumpy profile but only one categorized climb (the Category 4 Côte de Dému) coming with about 27.4km to go. It could shed a few sprinters if they haven’t recovered well enough from the Tour’s first three stages, but given how few chances they have this week, we think their teams will do whatever it takes to keep them in the leading peloton.

The finish takes place outside of Nogaro on the Circuit Paul Armagnac, a motorsport track outside the town. The riders will complete about half of the circuit inside the final 3km, with several wide sweeping corners as the race winds its way around the circuit and toward the finish line. Things could get dicey, as teams aren’t as used to racing on circuits like these–as much as the track is designed for racing it’s high speeds, it’s not something the riders themselves are accustomed to.

It’s the Fourth of July, but with two hard days in the Pyrenees up next, we don’t expect any changes on the Tour’s General Classification, with Great Britain’s Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) most likely enjoying another trouble-free day in yellow . Instead, the real fireworks should come at the finish, as the Tour’s fast men look to make the most of one of only a handful of days for sprinters in this year’s Tour.

The weather shouldn’t pose any issues for the riders, with cloudy skies and warm temperatures expected throughout the day.

Riders to watch

This is the last chance for Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Astana ) to break the record for the most stage wins in Tour history before the race heads into the Pyrenees. He’ll have the usual suspects to contend with including Belgium’s Stage 3 Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) and Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla), and Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Destny Lotto). Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will continue his attempt to try and win a stage, but he might find it hard on such a flat finish.

When to Watch

It’s a holiday, so feel free to tune-in late while prepping for your afternoon festivities. If you’ve got the time you can tune-in around 10:25 a.m. EDT to see the riders tackle the Category 4 Côte de Dému and the run-in to the finish in Nogaro. But if that’s too much of a commitment, tune-in as late as you can: the stage is expected to finish around 11:20 a.m. EDT.

Since getting hooked on pro cycling while watching Lance Armstrong win the 1993 U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, longtime Bicycling contributor Whit Yost has raced on Belgian cobbles, helped build a European pro team, and piloted that team from Malaysia to Mont Ventoux as an assistant director sportif. These days, he lives with his wife and son in Pennsylvania, spending his days serving as an assistant middle school principal and his nights playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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• Fantasy Vuelta

PREVIEW | Renewi Tour 2024 stage 1 - Battle of the kings! Expected sprint between Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay

From the 28th of August to the 1st of September, the Renewi Tour provides extra World Tour action. In Belgium and The Netherlands the peloton will tackle a five-day stage- race which will feature opportunities for the sprinters, time-trialists and classics specialists. We preview stage 1.

The race starts off with a 163-kilometer long from Riemst to Grote-Spouwen. A day with an intermediate sprint right in it's start, and some hills with a golden kilometer inserted in the middle already inside the final hour of racing. However it's not overly hard and should end in a sprint.

PREVIEW | Renewi Tour 2024 - Mathieu van der Poel, luxury classics field and Italian monsters Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna battle in exciting race

With only 6 kilometers raced there is an interesting point where he could see some moves, but this doesn't mean there will be a very strong breakaway on the day, likely it will settle down. Later on in the day though there is a section with three categorized ascents and another that coincides with the green kilometer.

The green kilometer, i remind you, consists of three sprints in the space of 1 kilometer. This means there should be a fight and it being uphill means the GC riders can really do something. How likely it is, we must see... But it comes with 32 kilometers to go and there is another hilltop shortly after which does provide the opportunity to grow a gap over the peloton. But we've got a flat finale and it's unlikely to be able to prevent a bunch sprint.

The final sprint however will be technical; with sharp turns coming with 2.3, 1.3 and .09 kilometers to go. Definitely not an easy one, and then in the final meters the riders will have a rise to the line with the final 300 meters averaging a 4% gradient.

Discover the startlist of the 2024 Renewi Tour - Mathieu van der Poel, Biniam Girmay, Filippo Ganna, Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan and Arnaud De Lie

The Weather

A hot day, 28 degrees in Belgium with some southern wind. Lots of firection changes mean echelons are very unlikely, and we could have a crosswind sprint.

Profiles & Route Renewi Tour 2024

The Favourites

There may be attacks due to the golden kilometer present, some riders will try to start gaining time in the fight for the overall classification, but there is no way that this will not end in a sprint. It's the sprint royale perhaps; the race this year that has the most luxurious startlist of all. I will have below all the main fast men and their leadouts.

Jasper Philipsen - Mathieu van der Poel - Jonas Rickaert

Tim Merlier - Bert van Lerberghe - Yves Lampaert

Jonathan Milan - Simone Consonni - Edward Theuns - Jasper Stuyven

Biniam Girmay - Mike Teunissen - Adrien Petit ( Gerben Thijssen may form part of this, but I doubt, it could be a repeat of the Tour de France)

TV Guide - Where and when to watch Renewi Tour 2024

Olav Kooij - Christohe Laporte - Tosh van der Sande - Mick van Dijke

Juan Sebastián Molano - Rui Oliveira - Nils Politt - Mikkel Bjerg

Arnaud Démare - Dan McLay - Florian Sénéchal

Dylan Groenewegen - Max Walscheid - Elmar Reinders

Sam Welsford - Marco Haller - Ryan Mullen

Fabio Jakobsen - Bram Welten - John Degenkolb

We will have other sprinters that can be in contention for a good result but do not have a particularly strong leadout such as Sam Bennett, Phil Bauhaus, Arnaud De Lie, Sasha Weemaes, Elia Viviani, Max Kanter, Paul Penhöet, Fernando Gaviria and Davide Bomboi .

PREVIEW | Vuelta a Espana 2024 stage 11 - Can Primoz Roglic explode the race in 19% climb?

Prediction Renewi Tour 2024 stage 1:

*** Jonathan Milan, Tim Merlier ** Jasper Philipsen, Biniam Girmay, Olav Kooij * Juan Sebastián Molano, Arnaud Démare, Sam Welsford, Dylan Groenewegen, Sam Bennett, Phil Bauhaus, Arnaud De Lie, Max Kanter, Fernando Gaviria

Pick : Jonathan Milan

Prize Money Renewi Tour 2024 with €89.100 available

2024 renewi tour race center - tv, startlist, profile, prize money and previews, read more about:, place comments.

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UNDER_ARTICLE

Fri 30 Aug 2024

Sat 31 Aug 2024

Primož Roglič halves Ben O’Connor’s Vuelta a España lead as Michael Woods wins stage 13

Wout van Aert takes a clear lead in the king of the mountains competition

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Pre-Vuelta a España favourite Primož Roglic slashed nearly two minutes off race leader Ben O’Connor’s margin on the summit finish of Puerto de Ancares.

The Slovenian attacked almost as soon as the double digit gradients of the final first category climb hit, swiftly distancing O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), who had started the day with a lead of 3.16.

GC contenders were spread all over the mountainside as the Australian battled to keep himself in the red jersey eventually shipping nearly two minutes to leave his lead over the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider at 1.21.

No one in the peloton had any hope of a stage win though as the break had been given a lead that ballooned up to 16 minutes. Out front, Canadian Michael Woods played his card cannily to take his first stage win at this year’s Vuelta a España.

The Israel-Premier Tech rider played it cool in the big breakaway of 23 riders watching at Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) shot off the front on every climb to claim the king of the mountains points.

He made his move with just over five kilometres to race on the double-digit gradients of the final climb.

Initially, Mauro Schmidt (Jayco-Alula) was able to go with him but the Swiss was soon distanced as the Canadian soloed to the line to claim his third career stage win at the Spanish grand tour.

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Woods joins a list of stage winners that includes Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodríguez, who won atop the 1,657m climb in 2014 and 2012 Vueltas a España respectively.

How it happened

The day’s breakaway of 23 riders built up a gap of over 12 minutes after 100km of racing.

Among those in the front group was Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who started the day level with Adam Yates (UAE-Emirates) at the top of the king of the mountains competition.

Yates wasn’t present in the break, and despite the efforts of his team-mates Marc Soler and Jay Vine, van Aert was able to hoover up the maximum points on the race’s early climbs taking his KOM lead out to seven points over Yates.

The first 100km were covered at an average of 44kph, significantly faster than the race organiser’s fastest predicted speed of 42kph. Deacthlon-AG2R La Mondiale did much of the pace setting in the peloton throughout the day, as is custom for the race leader’s team on a day like today.

Out front Van Aert picked-up the maximum points at the day’s intermediate sprint to lengthen his more than 80 point lead over Kaden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck) in the green jersey competition.

The break began to fragment, mostly under the pressure of van Aert’s near ceaseless attack, as the race came into its hilly conclusion. On the day’s penultimate climb of Puerto du Lumeras the UAE-Emirates trio of Marc Soler, Jay Vine and Brandon McNulty attempted to get one of them away but they were shut down.

In the end the Belgian was the first of the front runners to crest the second category climb to give himself a 13 point lead over Yates.

There was drama on the descent as McNulty slid off the road, going under the Armco, on the descent causing his team-mate Vine to also crash. McNulty was bloodied but able to climb back up the bank to the road before remounting to ride to the finish.

That left a group of five made up of van Aert, Soler, Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Sam Oomen (Lidle-Trek) and Mauro Schmidt (Jayco-Alula) coming into the final climb of Puerto de Ancares together to contest the stage win.

As the gradient kicked up into the double digits with 5km left to race on the final climb Schmidt and Woods pushed clear. Of their breakaway companions. Woods soon dropped Schmidt to push on alone, his gap steadily extending.

Behind those contesting the stage, Movistar set the pace in the peloton, clearly trying to set up an assault on the GC by Enric Mas, who started the day third in the overall competition.

Mas was able to follow when Roglič attacked initially but as the climb ground on he was distanced with two kilometres to go.

 With four of the final five kilometres possessing gradients in the double digits the final first category climb of Puerto de Ancares was never well suited to O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).

O’Connor, paced initially be a team-mate, was fighting hard to limit his losses not just to Roglič but to other GC rivals including Ricahrd Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mas, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step).

As Roglič crossed the finish line O’Connor still had 500m left to ride. He crossed the line 1.54 behind his biggest rival.

Results Vuelta a España 2024 stage 13: Lugo > Puerto de Ancares (176km)

1. Michael Woods (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, in 4:19:51 2. Mauro Schmidt (Sui) Jayco AlUla, +45s 3. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Emirates, +1:11 4. Sam Oomen (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +1:25 5. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:56 6. Gijs Leemreise (Ned) dsm-Firmenich Post NL, +3:33 7. Jose Feliz Parra (esp) Euipo Ken Pharma, +5:19 8. Mikel Bizkarra (Esp) Euskatel-Euskadi, +5:38 9. Luca Vergallito (Ita) Alpecin Deceuninck, +5:59 10. Mathis le Berre (Fra) Arkea-B&B hotels, +6:15

General classification after stage 13

1. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 51:10:15 2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:21 3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +3:01 4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +3:13 5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +3:20 6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +4:12 7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:29 8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +4:42 9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +4:44 10. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +5:17

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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.

The Australian hung onto red on Sunday, but lost almost two minutes

By Adam Becket Published 30 August 24

Six Paralympic medals won by GB in velodrome on Friday

The race leader's team were penalised for obstruction on Wednesday

By Adam Becket Published 29 August 24

Ben O’Connor could win the whole race after being gifted the lead by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe last week

By Adam Becket Published 27 August 24

O’Connor achieves Grand Tour treble with Vuelta stage win and takes over the overall race lead from Primož Roglič

By Tom Thewlis Published 22 August 24

Three-time Vuelta winner suffered back fracture and was forced to abandon the Tour in July

By Tom Thewlis Published 16 August 24

Slovenian abandoned race after being caught up in crash on stage 12, Vuelta a España participation now in doubt

By Tom Thewlis Published 24 July 24

The Slovenian's hopes of winning yellow appear over, yet again

By Chris Marshall-Bell Published 11 July 24

'The shape is just not there' says Soudal - Quick-Step leader, while Roglič on track for Tour success after two stage wins at Critérium du Dauphiné

By Dan Challis Published 8 June 24

Bora-Hansgrohe leader sprints to win atop Samoëns 1600 ahead of Matteo Jorgensen and Giulio Ciccone

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As it happened: Another chaotic final bunch sprint on Tour de France stage 5

Mark Cavendish makes history and takes record 35th stage win into Saint Vulbas

Tour de France 2024 - The complete guide Tour de France 2024 favourites Tour de France stage 4 results Tour de France stage 5 preview

Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews ' live coverage of stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France!

After an explosive day in the high mountains on stage 4, today's stage gets underway at 13:20 CEST, with the official start of racing from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne at 13:30 CEST. Thankfully for the whole peloton, it's a likely sprint stage on the menu after yesterday's big climbing test. 

Key points on stage 5 route

Start: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 72.8km to go: Cat.4 climb - Côte du Cheval Blanc 54.2km to go: Intermediate sprint - Aoste (Saint-Didier) 34.6km to go: Cat.4 climb - Côte du Lhuis Finish: Saint-Vulbas

Make sure to read Stephen Farrand's preview of today's sprint stage, with another shot at the record 35th stage win being eyed by Mark Cavendish and his Astana Qazaqstan teammates:

After suffering over the Galibier, Mark Cavendish and sprint rivals return to fight for victory - Tour de France 2024 stage 5 preview

GC standings after stage 4

If you somehow missed yesterday's thrilling stage to Valloire, here's how the GC currently stands after UAE Team Emirates and Tadej Pogačar's dominant display up the Col du Galibier:

1 - Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) - 19:06:38 2 - Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) +0:45 2 - Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +0:50 4 - Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +1:10 5 - Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:14 6 - Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:16 7 - Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) +1:34 8 - João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) st. 9 - Giulio Ciccone (Lild-Trek) +3:20 10- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:21

Catch up with how Pogačar achieved his stunning solo victory with Barry Ryan's report from stage 4:

Tour de France: Tadej Pogačar snares yellow with stage 4 victory in high mountains

Riders are at the start and being presented on stage in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.

We've also got fresh analysis from expert Philippa York to unpack all the exciting action from yesterday's stunning Galibier stage. Read how she broke down Pogačar's assault of the GC climbing field on stage 4 below:

Galibier outlined the current hierarchy at the Tour de France - Philippa York analysis

For more reaction to the ominous UAE team performance on stage 4, read Dani Ostanek's analysis of a team climbing performance for the ages. João Almeida, Juan Ayuso and Nils Politt were among the highlights of a perfect day for the Emirati team:

Tour de France analysis – On the Galibier, UAE Team Emirates brought cycling into the era of the 'hors catégorie team'

Dylan Groenewegen is back with his new sunglasses at the team presentation after causing some controversy when he debuted them on stage 3, so maybe the UCI has allowed them after all:

Dylan Groenewegen's 'beak' sunglasses miss sprint test at Tour de France

Here's the profile of today's 177.4km stage, with a downhill start making it difficult for a big break to get away. The last Cat.4 climb could give the less pure sprinter's teams an opportunity to try and sting the legs of the heavier fast men, but it arrives quite far from the finish so shouldn't play too much of a role. 

Bahrain-Victorious were having fun on the podium with Wout Poels announcing late arrivals Pello Bilbao and Jack Haig to the crowds in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Their focus will be all in on Phil Bauhaus today, after the big German sprinter only managed sixth in the first flat opportunity in stage 3.

⏰ Where is Pello?? Has anyone seen @PelloBilbao1990 ? ⏰ Où est passé Pello ?? Quelqu'un a vu Pello ?#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/NXHLnQiXt3 July 3, 2024

After the crash-marred sprint on stage 3 into Turin, there will be multiple teams who didnd't even get the chance to see their sprinter in action. Notably Astana with Mark Cavendish, Alpecin with Jasper Philipsen and Visma with Wout van Aert. It's going to be another day of building tension until the chaos breaks loose in the final run to the line. 

Under half an hour until the stage of stage 5 now. 

Here's Groenewegen back in the "Batman" shades on stage with Tour de France on stage announcer Marc Chavet.

More news coming out of Soudal-QuickStep with the confidence growing in the team after Remco Evenepoel's strong performance on stage 5. He's lived up to the billing so far on his Tour debut, with a focus now turning to staying safe until the stage 7 time trial where he will go all in racing his favoured discipline.

‘He has a lot of confidence’ – Soudal-QuickStep optimistic for Remco Evenepoel as thoughts turn to Tour de France time trial

Here's what Wout van Aert had to say pre-stage 5 thanks to Visma's social media. After a day of struggling in the mountains, he's unsure whether he will go for the sprint.

🇫🇷 #TDF2024Wout's words before the start. 💬 pic.twitter.com/cPBnZfV4OV July 3, 2024

Here's Cavendish ahead of the start where he was met with a great reception again. Could today be the day the record 35th stage win finally comes?

Not only is Pogačar in a full yellow skinsuit as the new leader of the race, but UAE's dominant team performance has unsurprisingly landed them the lead of the teams classificaiton - yellow helmets all round for the men in white. 

We saw history on stage 3 when Biniam Girmay won the first sprint stage and the first for a Black African at the Tour de France. Here's what he had to say before stage 5 to Eurosport:

"If you win one stage, you want to win a second. At least we have one stage so some pressure is gone so for me personally, we have two sprinters in the team so we can spare the stress. we Just keep focused and try to do out best," said the Eritrean.

"That's a good question," said Girmay when asked if it would be him or Gerben Thijssen going for the stage. "I came here to win a stage so I already succeeded in my plan. I'm just truing to do my best and if we have more chance to win the stage with Gerben, I will give and if I have more chance for the green jersey, I will also give. We will see today."

Stage 5 Start

C'est parti! Riders are gone from the unofficial start and we'll have the neutralised section before racing gets underway from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - the town which started stage 19 of the 2019 Tour, where we saw one of the most dramatic days of racing in recent history.  

The stage itself was stopped because of awful weather and a landslide but more importantly, Egan Bernal took yellow and ended the French dream of Julian Alaphilippe winning overall.

Today is much simpler with a sprint stage on the menu and 177.4km to race.

Pretty mild conditions at the start of the day which will be welcomed, with windy and cloudy conditions. 2km until the race reaches the départ réel.

Here's Pogačar back in the yellow race leader's jersey after he reclaimed it on stage 4. He'll be off duty just trying to stay safe throughout the fifth stage. 

177.4km to go

Here we go, stage 5 is officially underway. Christian Prudhomme has waved the flag from the lead race car and it's time for the action to begin. Without much on offer in the opening phase of the route, it's unsure what kind of start we will get.

Well, the answer to whether anyone would go on the attack has been provided. It was a no. Full status quo in the peloton and it looks like all eyes will be on the latter stages of the route. 

All 174 riders who finished stage 4 have started stage 5 which is great news. Still only 2 abandons so far at the 2024 Tour de France. 

As it was on stage 3, Mark cavendish is back off the bike and in full discussion with his team mechanics at the car. A real tinkerer of his position and he's trying to make sure his Willier setup is absolutely perfect to the very millimetre to be as fast as humanly possible. 

A look at an incredibly calm peloton on stage 5 of the Tour de France. We're far from full gas and actually just at full conversation for now.

Big headwind in the valley so no on is fancying any sort of move. Juan Ayuso and Oier Lazkano have started racing off the front and having all sorts of fun, with the latter just bunnyhopping over the island in the middle of the road. Not a serious attack by any means. 

170km to go

The two Spanish rider technically have 30 seconds but they are just chatting away and barely pedalling. Lazkano has the gold comabitivity race numbers on thanks to his aggressive actions on the Galibier yesterday. 

Tim 'El Tractor' Declercq has assumed his position on the front of the peloton, with Victor Campenaerts now even faking an attack at the start of stage 5. Proper non serious 'racing' so far if you can even call it that. Imagine this will continue for some time. 

It is so slow in the peloton that Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) is actually putting on more layers. It's been a disappointing Tour for him so far, with any sort of GC effort ending yesterday. Now that he's 12 minutes down, he should switch full focus on winning a second stage to add to his Alpe d'Huez triumph from 2022.

Ayuso and Lazkano are back in from their fun off the front. Even TotalEnergies have decided to do nothing as their team radio comes in and confirms that there is no point wasting the energy. 

Finally, we may actually have a big of a change in pace. There are small splits forming with Declercq deciding to test the legs and open things up a bit. No real pace or commitment in the group but perhaps a willingness to not let the day go on forever. 

Here's all four classification leaders after stage 4 of the Tour. Remco Evenepoel in white as best young rider, Jonas Abrahamsen in the green points jersey and Tadej Pogačar in the maillot jaune. The polka-dot jersey and KOM classification is being donned by Valentin Madouas who isn't pictured, but he is only wearing it on behalf of Abrahamsen who also leads that contest for the moment

Pace is back down to 30kph as the peloton fans out on this wide road. We're still heading gradually downhill for a lot of this opening phase, with a good chance for a nature break coming now.

160km to go

Small change in pace again as the sprint teams begin to put a rider each towards the front so the stage can get started. Representation from Alpecin, Trek and Intermarché all present. 

Some jokes being shown here from World Champion Van der Poel and yellow jersey Pogačar as they both come right to the front to 'pace'. Such an odd beginning to a stage but this is what happens after the most brutal start to the Tour in years and with a nailed on sprint stage on the menu. 

More groups have rolled slowlly off the front with just a few rouleurs showing their strength in such an easy start. Tim Declercq (Lidl-Trek) and Kobe Gossens (Intermarché-Wanty) are among them but it still isn't any sort of committed move. 

We had all come back together but suddenly, some of the French teams have decided to go racing. Groupama-FDJ have two men moving up the road, with EF, Cofidis and a few other joining them. 

In a non-surprising response, Alpeicn-Deceuninck sniffed any sort of a real move and they've closed down the small split. Pace is up at 57kph in the peloton now. 

150km to go

It's just Clément Russo who has been let away now after top TT riders Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger were originally up with him. 

With Groupama-FDJ possibly riding away with the combaitivity prize off the front of the peloton, fellow French team TotalEnergies have sent Mattéo Vercher to chase him down so they are represented. 

Current situation 143km to go

Head of the race: Mattéo Vercher and Clément Russo 

Peloton: +2:00

The French duo making sure their sponsors are on the TV have been allowed to build a 4:22 gap starts heading west in the direction of Lyon. 

Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Astana Qazaqstan are the teams leading the peloton, with Visma-Lease a Bike and DSM-Firmenich PostNL just behind. They are working for Pedersen, Philipsen, Cavendish, Van Aert and Jakobsen respectively. 

130km to go

Just a reminder that the parcours on today's stage is largely downhill and easy until the 110km to go mark when the race hits an uncategorised climb just past Chambery. This could be where racing starts to properly speed up.

While we have the chance, he's a look at final few kilometres of today's stage. A few late roundabouts will require the best positioning from the sprint teams, while a kink in the road with 300m to go makes the right-hand barrier the best place to fully open up your effort. Hopefully this won't cause any danger as it did in the opening sprint stage of the 2023 Tour where Philipsen closed-off Van Aert to the barriers, causing him to break. 

Yellow details everywhere for UAE Team Emirates on stage 5, right down to the bottles for race leader Tadej Pogačar.

A post shared by UAE Team Emirates🇦🇪 (@uae_team_emirates) A photo posted by on

120km to go

Status quo for the moment with the peloton keeping the gap to the two in front around the 4:20 mark. 

As the peloton leaves the Alps, it's important to note that the two leaders Vercher and Russo are both local riders, born in Lyon and would've grown up riding these roads.

We'll be seeing a lot of Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tim Declercq (Lidl-Trek) today as they are the two domestiques left to hold the gap at the desired level.

110km to go

More news from UAE after Juan Ayuso responded to any questions of a spat in the team between him and João Almeida, after the latter had to gesture him back to the front on the Galibier yesterday. Read what the Spanish rider and DS Andrej Hauptman had to say about it here:

'There are no problems' - Juan Ayuso downplays Almeida's Galibier gesture at Tour de France

Here's a look at Wout van Aert before the start of today's stage. He looked good on stage 1 and was emotional after returning to the podium of a Tour de France stage on stage 1 after an arduous period of injury recovery in spring. Van Aert amazingly hasn't won a Tour stage since stage 20 of the 2022 race when he triumphed in the ITT to Rocamadour.

We've just seen a near miss for Robbe Ghys (Alpecin-Deceuninck) going over a small bump in the road after almost crashing. He managed to hold it up thankfully and has been laughing at himself to the cameras.

The gap has started to come down to the two leaders, with it now down to 3:30.

Russo and Vercher are onto this section of uncategorised climbing with a 3:30 lead on the chasing peloton. 

100km to go

As we enter into the final 100km of stage 5, here's a look at our two leaders - Clément Russo(Grouapama-FDJ) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

Here's two former German national champions sharing a chinwag in the peloton. It'll be an easier for Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) after his great work chasing the break and pacing for Pogačar yesterday, while Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) will be looking to contest the bunch sprint. 

Russo and Vercher are now navigating a downhill section before closing in on the first categorised climb of the day - the Côte du Cheval Blanc (1.5 km at 4.6%).

If Cavendish achieves history today and nets a 35th stage win at the Tour, it must be said how every detail of his setup has been optimised to the absolute maximum, with Astana not leaving any stone left unturned in their pursuit of the record. Read about the micro changes and aero gains he's looked for thanks to our great tech team:

Mark Cavendish's £1,000 socks are the tip of the iceberg in his quest for 35th Tour de France stage win

Declercq is being told on team radio to not pull the break in too fast. Him and Dillier have pulled the two men in front back to a 3:00 lead with 80km to go.

Pogačar and Roglič debriefing after the hellish mountain battle on yesterday's stage 4. They won't be back fighting for the GC until the stage 7 time trial.

The rain has started to fall on the two men out in front, which could make things all the more sketchier as the pace builds towards the sprint finish.

Big news on Astana Qazaqstan's future coming out from our team on the ground at the Tour. Read all the details of their new investors here:

Exclusive: Chinese brand XDS Carbon-Tech invests in Astana Qazaqstan to create new 'super tea m'

Still Dillier and Declercq leading the peloton who are no 2:44 behind with the two-man breakaway finally reaching the lower slopes of the first categorised climb - the Cat.4 Côte du Cheval Blanc.

Russo takes the single point on top of the KOM sprint, crossing the line alongside Vercher with a 2:30 lead on the slow chasing peloton.

With the first KOM now passed, focus will turn to the intermediate sprint in Aoste (Saint-Didier), which the race will hit with 54.2km to go. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) is leading the green jersey classification for the moment but with the IS and the final sprint coming, he will likely lose it to one of Girmay or Pedersen who started the day four and eight points respectively off his total of 87.

Puncture and a change for Ben Healy (EF Educaton-EasyPost) but it won't be much of a problem to get back in for the Irishman. 

Both the pace and tension building up now for Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck who lead the peloton. It's a big day for the Belgian team after nearly everything went wrong in the opening  sprint on stage 3. Van der Poel had a late puncture so couldn't help in the lead out and fast man Philipsen went down in the crash 2km from the line. 

They were the top sprint outfit from the 2023 Tour de France so will be hoping for a return to that dominance on today's stage. 

The gap is continuing to come down with Dillier and Declrecq continuing to get through a mountain of work behind. Pace and composition of the peloton completely changed now.

Just as the tension rose and the speeds picked up, we've had a small crash at the back of the peloton. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) probably the most important name to hit the deck alongside some from Movistar and Lotto Dstny.

It was actually yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar who started the domino affect of the crash which rippled through the back of the peloton. He nearly went head first into a traffic island in the middle of the road but made a late move to the right of it. Those behind him came off worst but there looks to have been no serious injuries from the incident thankfully. 

Everyone is back from the crash and we are back to normal. No blame to the Slovenian just to clarify, as he was avoiding crashing himself due to road furniture that he had no vision of. 

Uncontested sprint between the two men in front, with Russo rolling across it first. Can't say the same for the peloton behind. Big charge from Intermarché for Girmay.

Pedersen, Philipsen and Bennett are all here too. Here comes the sprint to the line and it's the Dane at the front. Close finish between Pedersen and Bennett but it was the Lidl-Trek man who got there in the end. Philipsen's positioning not ideal.

A look back at the aftermath of the crash with none of those involved too badly hurt. Here's Gregor Muhlberger, Nelson Oliveira and Sébastien Grignard getting going again.

Race radio just comes through for Ineos to warn his team to get on the front and focus with the rain starting to fall again. Russo and Vercher are previewing some tough incoming corners with differing road surfaces up ahead. 

Two-man breakaway is nearing it's end with their lead just going under the one-minute mark now. Good effort from Russo and Vercher to get stage 5 going. 

GC teams coming to the fore, Ineos, UAE and Visma taking over with the nerves upping in the wet conditions. Mark Cavendish is also well-positioned with his Astana boys. Not even a chance to put on a rain jacket with the rain worsening. 

Insane bike-handling skills from Pogačar to keep this one up.

👀 ¡𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗱𝗼́𝗻 𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗶́𝗱𝗮 𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗼!😔 A punto estuvo de comerse la separación de la mediana el líder y el español no pudo evitar chocarse.📱📺🖥️ Sigue el #TDF2024 en directo en @eurosport_es y @streammaxes pic.twitter.com/xLpbCVXFQA July 3, 2024

With the rain falling, the peloton is also closing in on the final categorised climb of the day - the Côte du Lhuis - where the purer sprinters could be challenged by the likes of Lidl-Trek and Intermarché-Wanty, who have more versatile sprinters. 

Here's how the top five of the green jersey points classificaiton stands after the intermediate sprint. But this is due to change with 50 points available on the line in Saint Vulbas for the winner and lots for the places behind:

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) - 94 points

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) - 94 points

Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) - 87 points

Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) - 60 points

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) - 54 points

Astana Qazaqstan, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek are all nicely positioned at the front of the peloton as they close in on both the breakaway and the final climb of the day. The two men in front have under 30 seconds of a lead now.

22 seconds now to the break and the GC teams are also moving up to the front for this climb with the nerves building. They will all want to get through this stressful section safely. 

Here's a look at World Champion Mathieu van der Poel on stage 5. After a puncture ruled him out of lead-out duties on stage 3, he'll be keen to get involved today and help Jasper Philpsen take the victory. 

Russo and Vercher are onto the climb now but their day in front will end very soon on the inclines. Chapeau to both but I'm not sure how the race will decide who gets the combativity prize. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike bookending the peloton for now onto the 5% slopes of this climb. No real injection of pace but that is probaby because we are still a long, long way from home. 

Good news for Cavendish, Jakobsen and Groenewegen, who would have wanted the pace to be slow as it is. No push from Lidl-Trek.

Nice moment of respect from the local lads as Russo and Vercher fist-bump at the head of the race before being swept up. All focus on the final sprint now. 

Abrahamsen is moving up as the only rider interested in trying to take the solitary KOM point available at the crest of the final climb today. He's moved off the front now without challenge. He extends his lead and despite probably losing green today, he will be in the polka-dot jersey. 

Cavendish has been positioned very well by Astana for now at the head of the race. Lots of their blue jerseys are right at the front after getting caught behind the crash on stage 3 while being positioned further back. Still far from full gas in the peloton however. 

Couple of flat tyres for Nils Politt and Stefan Bissegger. They both have lots of time to get back in so better now than near the finish and will be important for bringing leaders home in the finale. 

Politt and Bissegger working their way back through the cars to the front of the race after the latter had a near miss with a team car. Ballerini leading Astana down this slightly damp descent. 

Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) has clearly been down on this descent but he's got a teammate for company. Bad news for the Norwegian team with their veteran sprinter hitting the deck, but they can switch focus to the also fast Søren Wærenskjold in the final as he is very quick too. Kristoff also looks like he is going to continue thankfully.

Just moments later as the race gets down from the descent, another island in the middle of the road has taken a victim with Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) hitting the deck. That was close to being way worse but thankfully it's only single riders going down for now. Nervous times in the run to the line today. 

Laporte and Kristoff are 26 and 57 seconds down so they may struggle to play a part in the sprint today.

With the pace actually coming out, Laporte is back in and Kristoff's experience and a teammate for help should get back him in within the next few kilometres. 

Here's the moment Kristoff thankfully got back up quickly from his crash. 

Status quo in the peloton with Astana, Red Bull, UAE, Visma, Israel and DSM are the teams at the head of the bunch. Kristoff and Laporte are both fully back in and can play a part in today's sprint. 

Philipsen for Alpecin and De Lie for Lotto are two riders and teams yet to really hit the front in this final run-in. They will want to move up late to save their lead-out trains for the final, hectic race for home.

Bahrain Victorious are now moving well to position Phil Bauhaus. After the crash-affected sprint on stage 3, everyone will still fancy their trains to be the best if they can get it right. Tension building at the Tour de France. 

Astana have been positioned brilliantly but they got split up on stage 3. Is today the day they get it right and Cavendish breaks the record to stand alone on the most Tour stage wins? We are about to find out. 

Reminder that in the UCI's new testing period, today's period of relief for the GC teams will be at the 4km-mark instead of the 3km-mark. Good news for trying to keep racing calm in the finale. 

Speeds up at 58kph and still rising. Still lots of roundabouts and road furniture to contend with so lets hope it all stays safe. 

Speeds are absolutely rocketing up with exposed roads also offering up a chance at crosswinds and splits before this final. 

A look at the furiously accelerating peloton on stage 5. Final run to the line incoming now. 

Speeds are flying up and every team wants to be at the front for the next few tough corners as the race navigates some roundabouts. Astana have already lost a few positions and need to move up. 

Pogačar and Vingegaard are being looked after incredibly to make it to the 4km to go mark safely. Yellow jersey in third wheel with the sprint teams all around him. 

Astana were moving up well but Lidl-Trek just took over their spot for Pedersen. Politt is drilling things on the front to get Pogačar home safely. Heat is on on stage 5. 

The game is really on here and it is so hectic. Wide roads give room to move up but you will need to burn a helper to do so. Astana and UAE still in control but Cavendish isn't right at the wheel of his teammates. Lotto also moving up nicely for De Lie. 

DSM and Alpecin are now showing themselves and hoping for better than the first sprint on stage 3. 

Visma have now taken over possibly with double ambitions of keeping Vingegaard safe and letting Van Aert go for the finish. 

Here come Jayco AlUla for Dylan Groenewegen. He got blocked in on stage 3 but looked very fast. It could be his day in the Dutch champion's jersey. 

4km mark reached and the GC men should be safe and moving out of the way to let the sprint teams do their thing. 60kph + now in the peloton. 

Lotto and Intermarché have hit the front and are best placed going into the next few vital corners which will decide positioning for the finale. 

Cavendish is in a much better spot than stage 3 but does he have the legs for history? 

Bahrain now at the front alongside Lotto and De Lie is in great shape to go for a win on debut. 

Final few corners being navigated now but remember the road does kink in the final 300m. 

So many sprinters need to move up if they want to contest the day. Philipsen and Groenewegen out of position for now but here they come. 

Flamme rouge done and he we go in the finale of stage 5. Alpecin have done a magic job for Philipsen and Van der Poel is there to lead him out. 

Just the finale now to get through and it is so hectic with Uno-X on the front. DSM, Alpecin and Astana all well placed. 

Timing is so important today and no one wants to go too early with 500 metres to go into a headwind. 

Here comes Trek but Pedersen isn't on the wheel. Opening now is the finale sprint. 

Cavendish hits the front and it's history at the Tour de France! The greatest of all time has the magic 35th stage win, more than anybody. 

Mark Cavendish wins stage 5 of the Tour de France and the record is smashed!

It was vintage from the Manx Missile who has achieved more wins now than the great Eddy Merckx. What a sprint and what a moment for Astana Qazaqstan. Hugs all round from the whole peloton with Geraint Thomas and Michael Morkov among those with him now. 

Cavendish was along in the finale, waiting for his moment and kicking away from those behind him. He had Philipsen on his wheel and in the slipstream, but unlike in last year's race, the legend of cycling had enough in the tank to bring it home and it's an incredible 35th stage win for the greatest sprinter of all time. Cycling at its very best on stage 5 of the Tour de France.

Cavendish has all his family there in Saint Vulbas for perhaps the biggest and best win yet. With all the pressure and all the talk, he's done it again. Just like he has 34 times in the past, the greatest fast man the Tour de France and cycling has ever seen on top at the sport's biggest race.

He's been through the darkest times and each time he's down he seems to rise back up. From crying at Gent-Wevelgem in 2020 and pondering retirement, to returning in 2021 for four magic wins and a tying of Merckx's record. He was down on the ground in 2023 when he broke his collarbone at what was due to be his final Tour, but Cavendish has come back again for one final dance, and it has all gone right on just the fifth stage of the Tour in 2024. Incredible, incredible, incredible, just like the great man has been throughout his whole career. 

Here's the moment the record was beaten. What a win and what a way to do it.

Here's how an emotional and delighted Michael Mørkøv summed up an incredible day for all of Astana Qazaqstan:

"It was super chaotic, unfortunately I ended up behind him in the last two corners so I could not lead him out like I wanted to. But that doesn't matter, it's all about winning.

I had the feeling on him today. He was super nervous, super excited. When we came to the finish, I saw he was in a good position and it's just incredible.

"Great, this is what we worked for, this is why I came to Astana. In some of the years I haven't been part of all of them but a few of them and I'm really proud of that.

Here's what the man of the moment Mark Cavendish said after winning stage 5 of the Tour de France:

"I just wanted to get the run in to do it. I'm a little bit in disbelief. Astana put a big gamble on this year to make sure we're good at the Tour de France. It's a big gamble for my boss Alex Vinoukourov and the team," said the Manx Missile.

"It shows an ex-bike rider, that knows what the Tour de France is, to know you have to go all in. We've done it. We worked exactly how we wanted - how we built the team, what we've done with the equipment, every detail has been put specifically toward today."

"You see what it means - we're not going to be top of the UCI rankings or anything but it shows how big the Tour de France is. Then first being bad on the first day of the Tour de France - it normally takes me days to get into it. I know how it works, my trainer and everyone around me knows how it is. If everybody knew how it was, everyone would be a bike rider and my job would be alot harder.

"I've done 15 Tours de France. I don't like to have bad days, I don't like to suffer but I know it's just in the head and to push through it. We didn't nail it as a team like we wanted to do but the boys improvised and got me there in the best position. I got on whatever train was going."

Summed up perfectly by his Astana team here: 'The GOAT'

THE GOAT!!! @MarkCavendish #TDF2024 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam 📷 @SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/kQRWAc2YuW July 3, 2024

Amid all the chaos of the Cavendish win, there was a nasty crash for Mads Pedersen who got out into the barrier as the sprint behind Cavendish swung across the road from right to left. Here he is thankfully being helped to the line by Tim Declercq but look out for more updates from Lidl-Trek on social media on his condition. 

Make sure to read the full stage report from Barry Ryan, alongside our gallery of the day's action and analysis of the finale:

Tour de France: Mark Cavendish carves history with all-time record-breaking win on stage 5

And here's Alasdair Fotheringham summing up what was another step in the already cemented legacy of Mark Cavendish as cycling's best-ever sprinter:

Mark Cavendish cements legendary status as cycling's most successful sprinter at the Tour de France

More reaction from Dani Ostanek in France from Cavendish's close friend Geraint Thomas, who was one of the riders who hugged Cavendish past the line in Saint Vulbas after his incredible history-making victory:

Geraint Thomas hails 'unbelievable' Mark Cavendish – 'It's great that he's got the Tour de France record'

GC standings after stage 5

With no change for the GC guys and them all arriving safely into Saint Vulbas, here's how the general classification stands going into stage 6, another flat test:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 23:15:24 2.  Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) +0:45 3 Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +0:50 4 Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +1:10 5  Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:14 6 Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:16 7 Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) +1:32 8 Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) st. 9 Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +3:20 10 Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:21 

Would it have been a Cav win without the trademark chain drop over the line when he stops dropping the power down? 

😱 And by the way, yes, @MarkCavendish claimed his 35th Tour stage win with a broken chain.😱 Et au passage, oui, @MarkCavendish a remporté sa 35ème victoire en cassant sa chaine.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/JqlDcLwbUH July 3, 2024

Tour de France 2024 Stage 5 results

Here's the top 10 on what was an incredible, historic day at the Tour de France:

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) 

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny)

Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL)

Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech)

Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)

Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty)

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)

Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost)

Take a trip through history to look back at all 35 of Cav's Tour stage wins, right from the first on stage 5 of the 2008 race in Châteauroux to today's 35th. It's a career that has spanned the eras of so many great riders, from sprinting against Oscar Freire and Erik Zabel in the last 2000s, to his great rivals Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel in the 2010s, and then to his most recent triumphs in 2021 and 2024 against the new generation's best Jasper Philipsen - Sir Mark Cavendish has been a constant in cycling's modern era.

Mark Cavendish and his 35 Tour de France stage wins – Gallery

More reaction from Cavendish's coach Vasilis Anastopoulos, after the pair spent hours and hours in Anastopoulos' native Greece, working on their preparation for 'Project 35' throughout 2024. All the work has finally paid off for their magic moment on stage 5:

'He proved everybody wrong again' - Mark Cavendish's coach hails record 35th Tour de France stage win

We break down exactly how Mark Cavendish earned his 35th Tour de France stage win from six kilometres to go and into the final 150 metres until he crossed the finish line.

How Mark Cavendish broke Eddy Merckx's all-time Tour de France stage win record

Vuelta a España stage 13 Live - O'Connor hoping to defend red jersey on testing day in the mountains

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Primož Roglič launches huge attack, dropping overall leader O’Connor and inching ever-closer to the red jersey.

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Canadian rider Michael Woods racked up the third Vuelta stage win of his career Friday, soloing clear of the day’s break on the final climb of the Puerto de Ancares.

The Israel-Premier Tech rider finished 45 seconds ahead of Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) next home, 1:11 back.

Further back Primož Roglič surged clear of the GC group after a masterclass in pacesetting by his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team.

Enric Mas (Movistar Team) was tracking him with Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) close by. Vuelta race leader Ben O’Connor cracked completely and stood to lose another chunk of his overnight advantage.

Mas and Landa couldn’t live with Roglič’s ferocious pace, resulting in the Slovenian going solo with 2.3km left.

He hammered all the way to the line, crossing it 10:54 behind Woods. Landa was the next best of the GC riders, 35 seconds further behind, while Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Mas gave up 58 seconds to Roglič.

O’Connor fought all the way to the line and appeared to be riding a little more strongly towards the end, but still lost two minutes and four seconds.

He had enough of a buffer in hand to retain the red jersey, but his advantage has now been slashed to just 1:21 with more than a week to go.

Roglič is building momentum, but said that his back injury is still troubling him. “This hard effort, I still feel it. I just have to go day by day,” he stated.

Because of that, his team didn’t ride for the stage win, instead allowing the break to gain serious time. “I don’t feel completely confident yet,” he explained.

“We were a bit conservative. We just have to take it day by day to see how it goes.”

Woods proves again that he is the king of the steep slopes. Relive the last KM thanks to @CarrefourES ! Woods es el rey de los muritos. ¡Revive el último KM del ganador de la etapa gracias a @CarrefourES ! #LaVuelta24 #CarrefourConLaVuelta pic.twitter.com/win73tsU6k — La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 30, 2024

Woods was far from conservative, giving it everything to land the third Vuelta stage of his career.

“I am on cloud nine right now,” he said.

“My big goal was to win a race with this jersey. I have had a tough season with illness. I have had a tough race in terms of bad luck, a lot of mechanicals and crashes at mistimed moments.

“So this is a big moment of catharsis, a big release. Pressure has been building so to get this win now I am on cloud nine.”

In addition to his Vuelta successes, he also has a stage win at the Tour de France. That puts him in the frame for a rare trio across the grand tours.

“I am just missing the Giro stage. My third Vuelta stage, I am really proud of that. I am not getting any younger, so it is always nice to win at this age. I am going to savor this one.”

A large break of big hitters

Stage 13 of the Vuelta was one of the most difficult of the race with 3708 vertical meters on the menu. That was made up of the third category Alto Campo de Arbre 33.5km after the start in Lugo, the second cat Alto O Portelo summit just before the halfway point, and then two hard climbs close to the finish.

The category two Puerto de Lumeras topped out with 20km remaining and, following a short descent, the category one summit finish to Puerto de Ancares began. This included a daunting section of 14.3 percent near the top, making for a serious challenge.

Eighteen riders went clear almost immediately after the start and were then joined by a set of chasers. That made for 24 out front, including Woods, Schmid, Soler, his UAE Emirates teammates Jay Vine and the American Brandon McNulty, points leader Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), and 16 others.

Woods would later thank his American teammate Riley Sheehan for his help.

“Riley Sheehan did a great job of getting me into the break with Dylan [Teuns],” he said.

Van Aert was riding very strongly and led over the first two climbs. The bunch was content to give the break some space and the gap soared to 15 minutes with 50km to go.

Van Aert, Campenaerts and Schmid felt the group was too big and forged ahead soon afterwards, with Soler, Woods, Vine, McNulty, Sam Omen (Lidl-Trek), Kasper Asgreen (T-Rex Quick-Step) and Gijs Leemreize (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) rejoining several kilometers later.

Van Aert collected top points at the intermediate sprint 29km from the end, further adding to his massive lead in that classification.

Soler had missed out on the split but bridged up to the front group and then put in repeated attacks on the day’s penultimate climb.

He was clear alone but was then passed and dropped by Van Aert before the summit.

A nasty-looking crash for McNulty, a time gain for Roglič

Van Aert is known as one of the best descenders in the sport and plunged down the other side. The chasers tried to get back to them but both Vine and McNulty went into a tight curve with too much speed, crashing.

Vine hit the barrier and was able to stay upright. McNulty slid under it and down the slope in thick undergrowth. He clambered his way back to the road covered in cuts but was not badly hurt. He got going again several minutes later.

Van Aert, Soler, Oomen, Woods and Schmid grouped and hit the day’s final climb together. Schmid leaped clear with 4.9km remaining but was marked and then attacked by Woods 400 meters later.

“I was a bit isolated later on when we had Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty and Marc Soler attacking me. But I just had to keep fighting with them.

“Then when Brandon and Jay crashed, that really scared me. I hope they are okay. But then I knew that I was the guy to beat on that climb.”

Back in the GC group Mas’ Movistar Team had been drilling the pace to soften things up for a move by its leader. Former Giro winner Nairo Quintana was doing much of the work, with O’Connor’s Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale grouped just behind that blue train.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe took over at the front to turn the dial up to ten. They were still over 12 minutes behind Woods and had no chance of catching him. However the battle for the red jersey was their only focus.

They gapped O’Connor with just over four kilometers remaining, with the Australian rider cracking completely and receiving help from Felix Gall.

Roglič kicked clear and was joined by Mas and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike). Roglič was on a mission, though, and dropped those closer to the line. He went into the final 2.3km of the climb alone and took back a further 2:04 from O’Connor.

He also gained time on all of his rivals. This puts him in prime position to win the race if he can keep this momentum going until Madrid.

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