Tuesday’s Stage 4 of the Tour de France saw Tejay Van Garderen remain in 3rd but fall back to 25 seconds behind race leader Tony Martin; both riders held place and time through a dramatic fifth stage on Wednesday.
Rain and wind made the weather conditions less than ideal for the 189.5 km Stage 5, which passed through the famous World War I town of Somme.
Several crashes throughout the stage disrupted the action, but there was a dramatic sprint to the finish that saw Andrei Greipel win the stage in thrilling fashion, beating out Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.
Letour.com summarized the stage:
Sprinters were seen as the leading roles of stage 5 and they were, sometimes unwittingly. Andre Greipel logically snatched his second win of this Tour in similar weather conditions as the first in the rain and wind of Zealand. By contrast, France’s Nacer Bouhanni, who was looking forward to this long stretch along the battlefield of WWI, crashed after 11 km and was forced out prematurely. In the finale, Greipel overpowered Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish to strengthen his green jersey while another German, Tony Martin, retained the yellow jersey so convincingly conquered in Cambrai.
As for Van Garderen, he finished Stage 5 exactly where he started it. The BMC Racing leader remains in third in the general classification and still 25 seconds behind Tony Martin who continues to wear the yellow jersey.
Van Garderen’s BMC Racing remains in first place in the team classification, having not relinquished the lead since taking it in Stage 2. That bodes well for Van Garderen, as he will need an intact team if he hopes to challenge Chris Froome (second place GC) and Alberto Contador (eighth place GC) for the overall as the race heads to the mountains.
As for those other riders, standings have remained quite similar from yesterday’s Stage 4:
Nouveau classement général / New overall ranking. #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/IVdl2CqZKf
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2015
Van Garderen, who resides part-time in Aspen, has been consistent and his decision-making has been steady so far at this year’s Tour. With 16 stages remaining, Van Garderen will need to stay composed and wait for his opportunity to make a move.
Stage 6 on Thursday, a 191.5 km trek, is one of the most beautiful of the Tour. Over 120 km are along the coast line and with wind expected, several teams could be attacking one each other down the stretch.
Sammy Mugharbil, a Mile High Sports intern and MSU-Denver student, contributed to this report