Astana’s Lopez finishes in main group of Tour De France Stage 5

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - It was an unusual day at the Tour de France with no break during the entire stage five of the race from Gap to Privas. In 183 km of racing on one really challenged the peloton, who rode all the distance to the finish without any group of escapers, Kazinform has learnt from the club’s press service.

The last 10 km of the stage were quite fast, nervous and tricky because of the wind. However, everything went well for all the riders and the massive sprint in Privas has decided the stage winner: Wout Van Aert won ahead of Cees Bol and Sam Bennett.

Astana’s leader Miguel Angel Lopez finished safety in the main group surrounded by teammates: Hugo Houle, Luis Leon Sanchez and Gorka Izagirre. At the stage Houle finished 15th, while Lopez did 19th.

«The stage went well for us, we tried to control the situation in the race and to protect our leader Miguel Angel Lopez. The last 10 km were a bit tricky, but we knew about the wind, so the guys brought Miguel in front, keeping him as far as possible from any trouble. Indeed, it was quite a strange stage with no breakaway, but all teams were worried about the wind in the final, so, maybe, every team decided to protect their leaders rather than to try to do something in the break. However, it was one more day at the Tour de France and for us it went pretty good. Another important stage is waiting for us tomorrow, so let’s see what happens there,» said Dmitriy Fofonov, sports manager of Astana Pro Team.

The Britton Adam Yates became the new yellow jersey of the race after Julian Alaphilippe got a 20-second penalty. Miguel Angel Lopez is 9th in the general classification, +0.13 behind the leader.

Stage 6 of the Tour de France will be held tomorrow: 191 km from Le Teil to Mont Aigoual.