Van Avermaet takes yellow jersey but Froome benefits as Tour rivals struggle

Greg Van Avermaet soloed to victory and the yellow jersey on stage five of the Tour de France in Le Lioran as Chris Froome saw rivals lose more time in the general classification battle proper.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Jul 2016, 23:03 BST
Updated 7th Jul 2016, 00:07 BST
Britain's Chris Froome, right, rides on the pack during the fifth stage of the Tour de France.Britain's Chris Froome, right, rides on the pack during the fifth stage of the Tour de France.
Britain's Chris Froome, right, rides on the pack during the fifth stage of the Tour de France.

Froome may have seen his deficit to yellow balloon from 14 seconds to five minutes 17 seconds after BMC’s Van Avermaet attacked from the breakway to win his second career Tour stage, but the GC picture was still looking good for the Team Sky man after Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali suffered on the 216km run from Limoges.

Movistar’s Nairo Quintana attacked on the last of the six categorised climbs as the race moved into the Massif Central, but Froome responded and it was the Team Sky man who was first home among the GC hopefuls, finishing in ninth place on the day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“For us it was just about staying up front (in the peloton),” Froome said. “Those descents were pretty tricky, pretty dangerous. It was about not losing any major time to any GC guys.

“We knew the breakaway was going to stay away today and the jersey has gone to Van Avermaet, he did a pretty impressive ride.

“From our side we’re happy to stay out of trouble and it’s one more day down. The big GC days are still to come.”

Contador has been struggling since suffering two crashes on the first two stages, and he gave up 23 seconds to Froome to fall 81 seconds behind in the standings.

Related topics:Tour de France