Stage five: A 157km route from Lille Metropole to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut
Closing stages include 20km of cobbles
Belgium's Wout van Aert wears the leader's yellow jersey
Image source, Getty ImagesRight that's me done. Thanks for joining me for stage five over the cobbles.
What a day eh?
You can read our report on Simon Clarke's victory and how Tadej Pogacar managed to capitalise on the misfortune of several of his main GC riders here.
I'll see you tomorrow for the hilly 219.9km run from Binche to Longwy.
Image source, Getty ImagesAs the dust begins to settle on stage five (sorry for the pun) here's Geraint Thomas' take on things:
"I felt a bit sluggish to start with on this bike and then got into it. I felt good and I was feeling better and better and then when I looked after sector six or seven I was surprised because there weren't many of us left.
"And then literally two minutes later Jack Haig and a few of the Bahrain guys came down right in front of me. I almost missed it but I got taken out. Tom [Pidcock] stayed with me and we were chasing back.
"I had no idea who was where by the end. I couldn't stay in one gear so it was just a case of surviving. [Jonas] Vingegaard came up to us and it was a case of hanging on to them really.
I got the chain back on and got back up pretty quick but it's a small gap, there's not lot you can do with 30km to go. It definitely could have been worse but I felt like it could have been a lot better as well. I don't feel too bad injury wise and the legs still feel pretty good."
There are reports suggesting that Primoz Roglic dislocated his shoulder when he crashed and popped it back in by himself.
Sounds painful.
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Speaking on ITV 4 Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Rowe said: “It was a chaotic day. I think for us, maybe we exposed ourselves a little bit early.
"It was just crash after crash after crash. It was a messy day and we were in a sticky situation at one point and by the sounds of it, we owe Wout van Aert a beer.”
The day's main beneficiary in the GC?
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Image source, Getty ImagesStage five winner Simon Clarke: “I mean, after winter I had, I had no team and Israel-Premier Tech rang me up. I was given that chance.
"Today is the reality check that everything can happen if you take the opportunity. The first few days of the Tour, I was looking after the team. But this morning, the team director said: ‘Clarkey, today is a breakaway day!’
"The stages I won at the Vuelta and the pink jersey I had at the Giro all came in the first week of the race. So I thought today was maybe the day but I still can’t believe it.
"I passed Taco [van der Hoorn] less than 50 metres to go. I gave my bike the biggest throw I could.
"My stages at the Vuelta came in similar finishes. I chose to sit back and hope for the other guys to crack before. I really had to chase Edvald [Boasson Hagen]down.
"We’ve been sprinting since the last corner. I went as hard as I could until the line. I moved to Europe for racing when I was 16 and I’ll turn 36 on the second rest day of the Tour, so after 20 years, now the dream comes true."
Here is how the general classification is looking now:
1. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma 16hrs 17mins 22secs
2. Neilson Powless (US/EF Education-EasyPost +13secs
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/TotalEnergies) +14secs
4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +19secs
5. Yves Lampaert (Bel/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl +25secs
6. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek - Segafredo +36secs
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo - Visma +40secs
8. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +48secs
9. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +49secs
10. Geraint Thomas ((GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +50secs
Geraint Thomas currently chatting about what happened today. The Welshman says he was taken out by a crash that has ended Australian Jack Haig's Tour de France.
1. Simon Clarke (Aus/Israel Premier Tech) 3hrs 13mins 34secs
2. Taco van der Hoorn (Ned/Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux) Same time
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/TotalEnergies) +2secs
4. Neilson Powless (US/EF Education-EasyPost) +4secs
5. Magnus Cort (Den/EF Education-EasyPost) +30secs
6. Jasper Stuyven (Bel/Trek-Segafredo) +51secs
7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) Same time
8. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 04secs
9. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) Same time
10. Luca Mozzato (Ita/B&B Hotels)
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Looks like Tadej Pogacar has taken about 13 seconds out of Geraint Thomas and Jonas Vingegaard.
The Ineos Grenadiers man and last year's runner up.
Adam Yates, Aleksandr Vlasov and David Gaudu are also in that group.
Lots of hugs for Simon Clarke at present. The Australian was temporarily out of work in the winter having left Qhubeka Assos.
Chris Froome who rolled over the line around four minutes down congratulates and grabs his Israel-Premier Tech team-mate.
Magnus Cort has been named the most aggressive rider today. It's the second time on this Tour de France that the Dane has won that particular prize.
Image source, Getty ImagesJasper Stuyven leads a tired looking Tadej Pogacar over the line.
How much time have they taken out of Geraint Thomas, Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert?
Image source, Getty ImagesSimon Clarke takes the stage.
Edvald Boasson Hagen finishes third behind Taco Van der Hoorn.
Simon Clarke and Taco Van der Hoorn launch their sprints...
Neilson Powless is giving everything here but he's not pulled sufficiently clear...
Neilson Powless attacks at the front of the race.
Wout van Aert is back on the front of the main chasing bunch. This is sensational.
Could he keep his yellow jersey?
