Stage 5, Tour de France
Oscar Freire, the absent minded former three time cycling champion pulled off an admittedly unexpected stage victory, leaving a helpless Tom Boonen in second place. He launched himself on an unsuspecting pack with just over 300 metres to finish and managed to sustain the effort as he pulled ahead of Boonen. As expected it was a thrilling sprint finish to stage 5, with several realistic contenders leading into the final metres. Spain had finally something to celebrate after the damning revelations from Operation Puerta.
Samuel Dumoulin and Bjorn Schroder broke away from the peloton in a group of eight riders at 20km and raced clear on their own as they reached the 40km mark. At one stage they opened up a 13 minute lead over the chasing pack, but as always the peloton managed to reel them in within a kilometre from the finish. It was rather disappointing for them to have lost the advantage after leading the stage for a good 200km.
Tom Boonen, the current world champion, managed to retain the yellow jersey for the third day running, extending his lead over Aussie Michael Rogers to just over 13 seconds. The sprinters have one more stage to rejoice in the limelight before the serious contenders make headway beginning with the time trial on Saturday that runs around Rennes. George Hincapie currently lying in fourth and Floyd Landis in eighth will surely stake their claims as the tour reaches the mountains, while one can never discount Levi Leipheimer who is consciously conserving his juices for the stages ahead.
Australia's Stuart O'Grady is a story in himself. He is riding through the pain of cracked vertebrae, as a result of his crash in stage three on Tuesday. It is questionable how long he may sustain his effort, but he has termed every kilometre a little victory and he will resume his battle for survival on Friday as he competes with himself.
Robbie McEwen retained the green jersey worn by the points leader. Jerome Pineau of France won the four category four climbs on the stage to remain in the Polka dots of the King of the Mountains.
The sixth stage on Friday, a 189 km ride between Lisieux and Vitre will see the riders race the last flat stage, before heading into the time trial on Saturday. Lisieux is the capital of Pays d'Auge, reknowned for its historical tradition besides its long association with sports and arts. Vitre is a vibrant and youthful town, on the outskirts of Brittany. It is an example for all of France due to its sporting excellence and low levels of unemployment.
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