STAGE 5 OF 21Wednesday 8 July

Lannemezan → Pau

Flat158.3 KMSPRINT FINISH LIKELY

A flat run into Pau, one of the Tour's most-visited towns. After the Pyrenean opening, the sprinters' teams finally get a day to control the race and set up a bunch finish.

THE TACTICAL READ

WHO IT SUITS

The pure sprinters and their lead-out trains, finally with a day to control after the Pyrenean opening.

WHAT TO WATCH

Crosswinds on the exposed run into Pau. If a GC team lights up an echelon, the sprint becomes the least of anyone's worries.

ROADMAN PREDICTION

A bunch sprint, barring wind. The fastest man with the best train — a Jasper Philipsen or a Jonathan Milan — settles the first clean sprint of the Tour.

THE ROADMAN TAKE

WHAT THIS STAGE DEMANDS

Sprint stages look easy on TV and are anything but — it is five hours of surging in the bunch, then a 1,200-watt effort at the end. The lesson for amateurs is positioning and timing: the rider who reads the last 3km and saves their effort beats the one who is stronger but launches too early.

WHAT ANDRÉ GREIPEL WOULD PUSH

22 Grand Tour stage wins came from holding position and trusting the lead-out — the sprint is decided in the final corners, not the final metres, so commit to a wheel and do not panic.

TRAIN FOR IT

The Roadman content that builds what Stage 5 asks for.

The sprint captain's code (Greipel)→Sprint power vs winning power→Group ride etiquette→

← STAGE 4

Carcassonne → Foix

STAGE 6 →

Pau → Gavarnie-Gèdre

← ALL 21 STAGES