Tour de France result and standings: Peter Sagan wins stage five with sprint finish in Colmar

After so many of the pure sprinters had been left behind earlier in the day when the climbs kicked in, Sagan was clearly the fastest rider left in the pack

Peter Sagan won stage five of the Tour de France on the streets of Colmar after coming through a tough and fast-paced race in the Vosges. Sagan was set up perfectly by his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates and finished the job expertly in a reduced bunch after many of his rival sprinters had fallen foul of the difficult climbs earlier in the day.

It was Sagan’s first victory of this Tour having finished second on the opening stage, and was the 12th win of his career, while he also extended his lead in the points classification as he chases a record seventh green jersey. Belgium’s Wout van Aert finished second and Italy’s Matteo Trentin came third.

For the general classification contenders like Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal of Team Ineos, it was a pleasantly uneventful day, albeit a strenuous one, and they will now turn their attentions to the crucial stage six which comes on Thursday, which finishes high in the sky on top of La Planche des Belles Filles.

The stage started frantically as the pack jostled for a role in what was expected to be a stage-winning breakaway. Several bids failed, most of which featured the ultimate breakaway schemer Thomas de Gendt, until eventually four riders escaped, led by the polka dot jersey of Tim Wellens.

Wellens collected more King of the Mountains points to add to his collection but eventually faded before the final climb, where his fellow escapee Toms Skujins took up the charge in a solo burst. But Skujins was reeled in too, halfway up the final climb of the day, bringing most of the bunch together as they descended towards the finish in Colmar.

Peter Sagan celebrates his triumph on the finish line (Getty)

From there Bora-Hansgrohe and Team Sunweb took over, the former trying to set up Sagan while the latter hoped to bring Michael Matthews into position in the closing stages.

But after so many of the pure sprinters had been left behind earlier in the day when the climbs kicked in, Sagan was clearly the fastest rider left in the pack and the result felt inevitable as he executed his sprint to perfection, winning by a length.

Standings

General classification (yellow jersey)

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck Quick-Step) 18hr 44min 12sec

2. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) +0.14

3. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) +0.25

4. George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) +0.25

5. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) +0.40

6. Egan Bernal (Ineos) +0.40

7. Geraint Thomas (Ineos) +0.45

8. Enric Mas (Deceuninck Quick-Step) +0.46

9. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0.50

10. Greg van Avermaet (CCC) +0.51

Sprint points (green jersey)

1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 144 points

2. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) 97

3. Elia Viviani (Deceuninck Quick-Step) 892

King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey)

1. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) 17 points

2. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) 9

3. Xandro Meurisse (Wanty) 6

Young rider (white jersey)

1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 18hr 44min 26sec

2. Egan Bernal (Ineos) +0.26

3. Enric Mas (Deceuninck Quick-Step) +0.32