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Sagan wins Stage 5, Van Avermaet keeps TDF yellow

Lorient - Slovakia's Peter Sagan clinched his second stage win of the 2018 Tour de France on Wednesday, beating Sonny Colbrelli and Philippe Gilbert at the uphill finish of stage five.

Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) and the other overall contenders finished in or close to the main group as overnight leader and Olympic road race champion Greg van Avermaet (BMC) retained the yellow jersey.

Belgian Philippe Gilbert sparked the hostilities early on the uphill finish of the 204.5 km ride from Lorient, but the Quick Step rider failed to open up a significant gap on the chasing bunch.

Van Avermaet, wearing the yellow jersey, then pulled to the front in a bid for the stage win as the finish line approached but peaked too early.

The race leader was left powerless when Sagan sped past on his left. Colbrelli pushed the Slovakian all the way but, as he did on stage two, finished second best to Sagan.

Sagan said following the yellow jersey had helped land him the stage.

"I'd like to thank Greg (van Avermaet) because he did me a favour when he went for it, I don't know if he did it on purpose but he dropped a lot of people," said Sagan, who has tightened his grip on the points classification's green jersey.

Asked if it would be a battle all the way to Paris with Fernando Gaviria for the green jersey prize, Sagan said: "I hope not!" 

The pair have two stage wins each from the first five and Sagan had predicted on Tuesday the Colombian might struggle with the climbs.

"The fact he wasn't in the sprint was good for me," Sagan said.

With five categorised climbs to be negotiated over the narrow, tree-lined Brittany roads a breakaway was to be exepcted.

An escape group featuring Sylvain Chavanel embarked on a long range bid with Van Avermaet's BMC doing most of the work at the head of the chasing peloton, and Bora joining the chase late.

Thursday's sixth stage is expected to shake up the peloton as it culminates in the double ascension of the feared Mur de Bretagne climb, a 2km long 6.9 percent gradient affair.

On paper, it looks a step too far for Sagan. Lighter, more agile riders like Van Avermaet, Aejandro Valverde, Julian Alaphilippe and Gilbert are expected to shine.

"Tomorrow's finish will be very difficult to control over the final 2km," Sagan said. "I'll try my best to win but you saw all that today."

"The Mur de Bretagne is much harder than this," said Van Avermaet, who would not rule Sagan out of contention for the sixth stage.

"Valverde or Alaphilippe will be there, it's their kind of race," he said.

"But Gilbert and Sagan will be there until the end."

The double ascent of the Mur may tempt a yellow jersey contender to steal a march on his many GC rivals, and is keenly awaited as a key stage on the Tour.

Sky were omnipresent over the final kilometres of racing and Luke Rowe said he felt they had been getting a more positive reaction from the crowds after being booed at the presentation.

"We have actually been getting quite a complimentary reception, of course for every thousand cheers you might get one negative person but you take that in your stride, I've got broad shoulders, its in one ear and out the other for those who don't appreciate what we're doing."

Standings from the Tour de France 5th stage, a 204.5km ride from Lorient to Quimper on Wednesday:

1. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 204.5km in 4hr 48min 06sec

2. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) at 0sec.

3. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) 0.

4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 0.

5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 0.

6. Daniel Martin (IRL/EAU) 0.

7. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0.

8. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/SUN) 0.

9. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/WGG) 0.

10. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 0.

11. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 0.

12. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0.

13. Pierre-Roger Latour (FRA/ALM) 0.

14. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 0.

15. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/LOT) 0.

16. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 0.

17. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 0.

18. Richie Porte (AUS/BMC) 0.

19. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 0.

20. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 0.

21. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 0.

22. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0.

23. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA/ALM) 0.

24. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/BAH) 0.

25. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 0.

26. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EFD) 0.

27. Tom Dumoulin (NED/SUN) 0.

28. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) 0.

29. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 0.

30. Warren Barguil (FRA/FST) 0.

31. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 0.

32. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 0.

33. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 0.

34. Primož Roglic (SLO/LNL) 0.

35. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) 0.

36. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 0.

37. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 0.

38. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 0.

39. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 14.

40. Jon Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 14.

41. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EFD) 17.

42. Magnus Nielsen (DEN/AST) 17.

43. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 17.

44. Antwan Tolhoek (NED/LNL) 17.

45. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 17.

46. Serge Pauwels (BEL/DDT) 17.

47. Dion Smith (NZL/WGG) 17.

48. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FST) 17.

49. Mikel Nieve (ESP/MIT) 23.

50. Romain Hardy (FRA/FST) 25.

51. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 25.

52. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 25.

53. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 28.

54. Jens Keukeleire (BEL/LOT) 28.

55. Omar Fraile (ESP/AST) 39.

56. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 49.

57. Yoann Offredo (FRA/WGG) 49.

58. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 53.

59. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 53.

60. Amaël Moinard (FRA/FST) 53.

61. Damien Howson (AUS/MIT) 1:01.

62. Pavel Kochetkov (RUS/KAT) 1:08.

63. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FST) 1:15.

64. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 1:17.

65. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 1:17.

66. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 1:17.

67. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 1:17.

68. Thomas Degand (BEL/WGG) 1:17.

69. Marco Minnaard (NED/WGG) 1:17.

70. Julien Bernard (FRA/TRE) 1:23.

71. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 1:23.

72. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE/FDJ) 1:25.

73. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 1:25.

74. Tom Slagter (NED/DDT) 1:25.

75. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 1:27.

76. José Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 1:27.

77. Daniel Martínez (COL/EFD) 1:27.

78. José Herrada Lopez (ESP/COF) 1:27.

79. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/BAH) 1:27.

80. Tomasz Marczynski (POL/LOT) 1:27.

81. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 1:27.

82. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/EAU) 1:27.

83. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 1:27.

84. Rein Taaramae (EST/DEN) 1:27.

85. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 1:27.

86. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/EAU) 1:27.

87. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 1:27.

88. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 1:27.

89. Tony Martin (GER/KAT) 1:27.

90. Tony Gallopin (FRA/ALM) 1:46.

91. Silvan Dillier (SUI/ALM) 1:46.

92. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 1:48.

93. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 1:58.

94. Jack Bauer (NZL/MIT) 2:10.

95. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) 2:15.

96. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 2:15.

97. Lukas Pöstlberger (AUT/BOR) 2:15.

98. Gregor Mühlberger (AUT/BOR) 2:15.

99. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 2:15.

100. Daniel Oss (ITA/BOR) 2:15.

101. Jesper Hansen (DEN/AST) 2:15.

102. Simon Clarke (AUS/EFD) 2:32.

103. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/EFD) 2:32.

104. Luke Durbridge (AUS/MIT) 2:32.

105. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 3:07.

106. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 3:07.

107. Kristjan Koren (SLO/BAH) 3:07.

108. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 3:13.

109. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 3:16.

110. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 3:29.

111. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 4:14.

112. Michael Hepburn (AUS/MIT) 4:14.

113. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 4:14.

114. Chad Haga (USA/SUN) 4:17.

115. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 4:17.

116. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG/QST) 4:24.

117. Fernando Gaviria (COL/QST) 4:24.

118. Tim Declercq (BEL/QST) 4:24.

119. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 4:24.

120. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 4:24.

121. Michael Andersen (DEN/AST) 4:24.

122. Fabien Grellier (FRA/DEN) 4:24.

123. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 4:24.

124. Jérôme Cousin (FRA/DEN) 4:24.

125. Oliviero Troia (ITA/EAU) 5:24.

126. Yves Lampaert (BEL/QST) 5:26.

127. Edward Theuns (BEL/SUN) 7:52.

128. Rory Sutherland (AUS/EAU) 7:52.

129. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 7:52.

130. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 7:52.

131. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 7:52.

132. Ian Boswell (USA/KAT) 7:52.

133. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/SKY) 7:52.

134. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/AST) 7:52.

135. Matthew Hayman (AUS/MIT) 7:52.

136. Patrick Bevin (NZL/BMC) 7:52.

137. Toms Skujinš (LAT/TRE) 7:52.

138. Florian Vachon (FRA/FST) 8:55.

139. Kévin Ledanois (FRA/FST) 8:55.

140. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/BAH) 12:50.

141. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 12:50.

142. Anthony Perez (FRA/COF) 12:50.

143. Anthony Turgis (FRA/COF) 12:50.

144. Michael Schär (SUI/BMC) 12:50.

145. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 12:50.

146. Simon Gerrans (AUS/BMC) 12:50.

147. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FST) 12:50.

148. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 12:50.

149. Arnaud Démare (FRA/FDJ) 12:50.

150. Damien Gaudin (FRA/DEN) 12:50.

151. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 12:50.

152. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/EAU) 12:50.

153. Julien Vermote (BEL/DDT) 17:17.

154. André Greipel (GER/LOT) 17:17.

155. Timothy Dupont (BEL/WGG) 17:17.

156. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/WGG) 17:17.

157. Taylor Phinney (USA/EFD) 17:17.

158. Tom Scully (NZL/EFD) 17:17.

159. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT) 17:17.

160. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 17:17.

161. Jay Thomson (RSA/DDT) 20:56.

162. Mark Renshaw (AUS/DDT) 20:56.

163. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDT) 20:56.

164. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/FDJ) 20:56.

165. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/LNL) 20:56.

166. Marcel Sieberg (GER/LOT) 20:56.

167. Rick Zabel (GER/KAT) 20:56.

168. Amund Grondahl Jansen (NOR/LNL) 20:56.

169. Marcel Kittel (GER/KAT) 20:56.

170. Lawson Craddock (USA/EFD) 20:56.

171. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/KAT) Retired

172. Michael Matthews (AUS/SUN) Withdrawn

173. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/LOT) Withdrawn

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