cycling: Tour de France stage #5 prognosis: It goes into the mountains

Cycling: The Tour de France is only four days old and we have seen almost everything. It was cold, rainy and warm. We could admire the battle against the clock, a start in Germany and rides through Belgium, Luxembourg and France. In addition to two flat stages, the punchers were also able to put their skills to the test. On the fifth stage, we head into the mountains for the first time today. Now the classification drivers have to put their cards on the table. But who has the best cards?

The fifth stage of the Tour de France 2017 – The first without Peter Sagan?

What was that yesterday? fourth stage? At first the part was hard to beat in terms of boredom, until in the end it went one after the other. But before we get into the highly explosive events, let's once again pay tribute to Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Group Gobert) for the almost 200-kilometer solo. In the end it wasn't enough for him. The French were allowed to cheer for the first time. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) won the mass sprint in Vittel. Where the term mass sprint almost wrong as most of the field had been held up by a fall. Finally, Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) took care of the biggest topic of the day. The Fall of Mark Cavendish was triggered by the world champion according to the jury. They then wanted to put him back and have points deducted from him - until finally the sponsor Dimension Data had a serious word with the organizers. As a result, Peter Sagan was excluded from the Tour de France - and the wild discussions on the World Wide Web began. It has a stale aftertaste that with Arnaud Démare a Frenchman now has the best prospects for the green jersey. It also doesn't bode well for the Tour de France that the penalty was tightened under pressure from Dimension Data. After all, Dimension Data is not only Mark Cavendish's team, but also an official sponsor of the Tour de France. The Bora-hansgrohe team lodged a protest last night. As of now, we don't know if Peter Sagan will be there today.

Vive Le Tour: The first mountain finish is imminent

Either way: Whether you want to accept the jury's decision or not - the Tour de France goes on! Even without Peter Sagan, we would still have exciting stages and be able to cheer for our heroes who did outstanding work. True to the motto Vive LeTour should we stay true to this sport. The drivers will certainly thank us for this with an exciting race today, because it's going into the mountains for the first time. All the drivers mentioned so far in this article will have nothing to do with the outcome of the stage. The captains for the overall classification are asked for the first time. There will also be shifts in the mountain classification. The cards must be placed on the table. Today, Froome, Porte, Aru and Co. may not win the 2017 Tour de France, but they could lose it. Because it goes up the climb La Planche des Belles Filles.

La Planche des Belles Filles: 5,9 kilometers long & 8,5 percent steep

The first mountain finish of a Grand Tour often gives the spectators information about how good the class riders are in shape. Today's stage takes riders 160,5 kilometers from Vittel to La Planche des Belles Filles. On the way there is a mountain of the third category to be completed, but it should really only get down to business at the end. The final ascent is 5,9 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 8,5 percent. So it is not particularly long, but it can be described as quite steep. Again and again there are steep ramps. Right at the beginning there is a section with 13 percent, in the middle of the mountain there is 11 percent and at the very end there is another 20 percent up. So the climbers shouldn't have a bad day today.

Our tip: Chris Froome takes yellow - Fabio Aru wins the stage

Chris Froome (Sky) doesn't like to burn anything. After the time trial in Düsseldorf, the Briton is in a promising position. Yellow Geraint Thomas will have to work for him today. The way to the Maillot Jaune is free. Even though Chris Froome revealed weaknesses that we hadn't seen before, at least in preparation for the Tour de France, we still see him as the strongest rider in the rankings. In addition to the much-mentioned Richie Porte (BMC), we see the Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) as the greatest opponent. At the Italian championship he made an impressive comeback after his injury. The short but crisp climb suits him. If Fabio Aru wants to win the Tour de France, he has to make the difference on stages like this. Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) are also mountains like this. They should also be able to intervene in the battle for stage victory. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r) tend to prefer the longer climbs. Your time will come. And how does Emanuel Buchmann present himself? A top ten placement would be a big step towards the white jersey!

***Fabio Aru
**Daniel Martin, Richie Porte
* Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet

Overall ranking of the 2017 Tour de France after 4 of 21 stages (excluding P. Sagan)