2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10#Stage 5

(41,9 km / h)

Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ )

The fifth stage of the Tour de France 2012 took place on 5 July 2012. She was 196.5 km long, leading from Rouen to Saint- Quentin. There were still 195 of 198 riders at the start.

Route

The route led predominantly in an easterly direction through the departments of Seine -Maritime, Eure, Oise, Somme and Aisne. The profile of this stage was mostly flat, and there was no significant climbs and no climbs. The intermediate sprint was held in Breteuil.

Race course

The kick-off in Rouen was the French sports minister Valérie Fourneyron. Immediately after the release of the race escaped from the French Mathieu Ladagnous and Julien Simon, Spaniard Pablo Urtasun and the Belgians January Ghyselinck. The projection grew rapidly and leveled off at about 5:40 minutes to then be gradually smaller. The intermediate sprint in Breteuil decided Ladagnous for themselves; Fastest in the field was Mark Cavendish.

After 140 kilometers, the projection of the breakaway was still 2:15, 25 kilometers from the finish still 1:15 minutes. Especially the teams Sky and BMC ensured in the field for speed, but it was well within the realm of possibility that the outliers could save the finish, as they still had five kilometers before the end of Section 30 -second lead.

Less than three kilometers from the finish, a massive crash, in which several dozen drivers were involved, including Tyler Farrar and Peter Sagan occurred. On the last 300 meters of the finish line the front of the field, the outliers finally caught up. The sprint for the victory decided as the day before the German André Greipel for themselves.

Fabian Cancellara could let himself slip over the yellow jersey for the 27th time. He now holds the record for those drivers who most days led the overall standings, without winning the Tour. The previous record was achieved in the 1930s René Vietto.

Points ratings

• Intermediate sprint in Breteuil ( 109 kilometers, 92 m )

• Destination in Saint -Quentin ( km 196.5, 106 m)

Tasks

• 211 - Germany Marcel Kittel (Team Argos - Shimano ): task during the stage.