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Stage 5 will be the first mountain stage of the 2016 Tour de France, taking the riders south through central France for an uphill finish at Le Lioran. Join The Roar for all the live racing highlights and action from 10pm (AEST).
Coming off the back of two of the tightest stage finishes in recent memory, on consecutive days for that matter, the 2016 Tour is shaping up to be one of the best in years.
Slovakian Peter Sagan holds onto the leader’s yellow jersey for for Tinkoff, clutching onto a 12-second gap over Ettix-Quick Step’s Julian Alaphilippe, with Alejandro Valverde rounding out the podium a further two seconds back.
Despite the early goings being dominated by the sprinters on the flats, Stage 5 will be the first real litmus test for General Classification contenders.
Setting off from yesterday’s dramatic finish at Limoges, the riders will have a fairly comfortable ride to start the day, cruising for the most part of 130km, navigating a couple of small gradual ascents, before the real climbing begins with around 86km to go.
The Pas de Peyrol reaches the highest altitude for the day, peaking at 1,589 metres, a height not reached this early in the tour since the 1979 incarnation of the race.
The final 3km of the Peyrol climb averages a gruelling 12% climb, even going as high as 15% in some short sections, just to really burn the legs with more climbs ahead of the riders.
Following a rapid decline and easily the fastest section of the day on the descent from Peyrol, the peloton will have little reprieve before being hit with the Col de Perthus (at 8%), and the final category climb of the day, the Cole de Font de Cere (6%) that leads into the finish.
Prediction
This is very much a day for the GC riders, and the sprinters that have taken control of the opening flat stages, a la Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel to an extent, will have to limit the damage and stick with the peloton as best they can.
There will no doubt be a breakaway through the early ascensions before the main climbs, and if the right people with the right climbing pedigree can open up a sizable gap before the peak of Pas de Peyrol at least, then they could be in with a huge chance to take the stage.
It’s always hard to pick the first mountain stage of a tour with so little to go off, but look for Team Sky to nurture their man Chris Froome to a strong finish, and possibly the yellow jersey.
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