Peter Sagan is on his way to history. By winning the 5th stage of the Tour de France 2019 between Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and Colmar, the Slovak Bora-Hansgrohe has reinforced his green jersey as best sprinter. If he retains the tunic to the Champs-Elysees on July 28, he will become the only cyclist to have won seven times the distinction on the Great Loop.
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📹 Relive the last kilometer of stage 5 and @ petosagan's huge win! 🏆 💚
📹 Relive the last kilometer of today's stage and the victory in the sprint of the Peter Sagan Green Jersey! 💚🏆 # TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/tV1NpS2bGC
The star of the Bora team settled in the sprint first pack, including the yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck), the arrival of the 175.5 km of the first day Vosges. He was ahead of Belgium's Wout Van Aert (Jumbo) and Italy's Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton).
The 29-year-old and three-time world champion (2015 to 2017), Sagan has been the immortal green jersey of the Tour since his debut in the Grand Loop in 2012. Except once, in 2017, when he was ruled out for sprinting irregular in the first week.
"We had to be patient, the win came in. My teammates did a great job, we managed the race all day and we finished well, I gave the best," said Sagan. who had won only three times since the start of the season.
The favorites of the Tour have been observed during this summer day, the first on a mountain course. But the breakaway, launched after many attempts early in the race, has never been able to have a free hand.
Alaphilippe has bread on La Planche des Belles Dilles to stay in yellow
Australia's Simon Clarke, Belgium's Tim Wellens, Denmark's Mads Würtz and Latvia's Toms Skujins earned only a margin of around two minutes. Skujins distanced his companions in the Trois-Épis coast, 37 km from the finish. The Latvian was caught in the final difficulty, on the threshold of the last 20 kilometers, by a peloton led mostly by teammates Michael Matthews (7th at the finish).
This group, skim but still compact, disputed the victory in Colmar, despite a solitary attempt by the Portuguese Rui Costa (Emirates UAE), taken only 2 km from the line.
Alaphilippe, 10th in the stage, kept his advantage in the overall standings over the yellow jersey candidates, the Tour favorites who will be riding on the slopes of La Planche des Belles Daughters.
"He is able to keep the jersey," said his cousin and coach Franck Alaphilippe. "The climb is very hard but, for 7 km, he can make the match with the best, he has the means to do it anyway, but it depends on how the stage will run."
160.5 km long, the course connects climbs and descents in the Vosges, no less than six passes or hills listed before the final climb (7 km to 8.7%). This year, the organizers have pushed back the climb of one kilometer on a very steep road (up to 24%), compared to the three previous arrivals of the Tour in the Haute-Saône resort.
With AFP