Belian Greg van Avermaet soloed to victory on stage five of the 2016 Tour de France, a ride of 216km between Limoges and Le Lioran.
Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet won the fifth stage of the 2016 Tour de France to take the overall lead. Photo: SuperSport
Van Avermaet, of BMC, attacked a few kilometres from the finish to leave his breakaway companion, Thomas de Gendt, behind. His fellow countryman hung on for second, with Poland’s Rafael Majka finishing a distant third.
Van Avermaet takes over the overall lead from Tinkoff’s world champion Peter Sagan, who faltered on the hilly stage.
“I was never dreaming about the yellow jersey,” said Van Avermaet.
“I was happy with a stage win last year and now it is another stage win and the yellow jersey. I think it is once in a lifetime for me and I’m going to enjoy it as much as possible tomorrow.
“Even though it was a big surprise for me, I was hoping for the yellow jersey because I was still close on GC. You hope a break can go on a day like today and everything went perfectly and finally I got this stage win and the yellow jersey.”
He now leads France’s Julian Alaphilippe by 5:11 and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by 5:13 in the general classification.
Former Tour winner and one of the three pre-race favourites, Spain’s Alberto Contador, continued to suffer from his injuries and lost more time.
Stage five results
1. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) 5:31:36
2. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 2’34”
3. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Team) 5’04”
4. Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha)
5. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) 5’07”
6. Bartosz Huzarski (Bora-Argon 18)
7. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quick-Step)
8. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange)
9. Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
10. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team)
Selected
23. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
71. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange)
144. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data)
General classification
1. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) 25:34:46
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quick-Step) 5’11”
3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) 5’13”
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) 5’14”
5. Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 5’17”
6. Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Alpecin) 5’17”
7. Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) 5’17”
8. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) 5’17”
9. Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) 5’17”
10. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) 5’17”
Selected
19. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
65. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange) 18’36”
110. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) 29’17”
Points classification
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Team) 150 points
2. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) 146
3. Marcel Kittel (Etixx – Quick-Step) 142
King of the Mountains
1. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 13 points
2. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) 11
3. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) 5
See Tour de France for more news, results and photos.
