Pogacar takes yellow jersey in Tour de France fifth stage as Evenepoel wins time trial

Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel won the fifth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, a 33-km time trial around Caen that saw Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar take the yellow jersey from Mathieu van der Poel. World and Olympic champion Evenepoel finished 16 seconds quicker than Pogacar with the Italian Edoardo Affini 33 seconds off the stage lead in third. Pogacar now leads the general classification with a 42-second advantage over Evenepoel.

Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, who began the day just 8 seconds behind the yellow jersey Van der Poel, had a poor day as the Dane could only finish 13^th in the stage, 1 minute and 21 seconds behind Evenepoel, to slip to 1 minute and 13 seconds behind Pogacar in the new standings. Dutchman Van der Poel also struggled to maintain the pace, coming in 18^th, 1 minute and 44 seconds behind the winner, dropping him down to sixth overall.

The mainly flat stage 5 in Normandy favored powerful riders like Evenepoel, who already had won a time trial in a similiar fashion last year, when the Belgian rider finished third overall in the general classification. Tucked on his bike in a perfect aerodynamic position, Evenepoel, who has fully recovered from multiple injuries sustained in a big crash last year, was in a class of his own. He made the most of the back wind in the second half of the race, reaching the finish at an average speed of more than 54 km/h. “I didn’t really feel like I could go any faster,” Evenepoel said.

But the day’s big winner was Pogacar, who was back in the yellow jersey a day after taking his 100^th career win. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader blasted off the starting ramp and set up a very high tempo from the start. He could not match Evenepoel’s performance, but his strong challenge put him at the top of the overall standings, with a 42-second lead over Evenepoel. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was in third place overall, 59 seconds off the pace.

Stage 6 will take the peloton from Bayeux to Vire in a region of France known as Norman Switzerland featuring some high hills and stunning views. The stage finale should be spectacular with the Côte de Vaudry likely to feature some attacks from top contenders before an uphill finish with a 10% gradient.