Key events
Mountains classification standings
After stage four:
1. Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost): 12
2. Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA): 10
3. Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM): 9
4. Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar Team): 7
5. Marco Frigo (NSN Cycling Team): 5
6. Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): 5
7. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 4
8. Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious): 4
9. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 3
10. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek): 3
Points classification standings
After stage four:
1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): 103
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 55
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike): 44
4. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek): 42
5. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 39
6. Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team): 39
7. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): 33
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility): 32
9. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech): 30
10. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM): 28
General classification standings
After stage four:
1. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility): 13hrs 02min 46secs
2. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost): +28secs
3. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek): +3mins 50secs
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): +7min 53secs
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +7min 53secs
6. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech): +8min 6secs
7. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): +8min 16secs
8. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): +8min 17secs
9. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek): +8min 20secs
10. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM): +8min 41secs
Preamble
I’m not going to say I could race this stage but the first 20km are basically downhill and then it is mostly a flat run from Lannemezan to Pau, with one category three incline up the Côte de Baleix that comes inside the last 30km – so make of that what you will.
Pau is the third most visited city in the race’s history, trailing only Paris and Bordeaux. The pretty commune has had 77 visits from the Tour, including 64 stage finishes, and has its own museum dedicated to the race on the site of its old velodrome. Plenty of lore, then.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Premier Tech) knows the place well. He won in Pau two years ago and is among the favourites again on day that will almost certainly conclude with a bunch sprint. Yesterday’s winner, Mads Petersen (Lidl-Trek), is also a contender if his efforts in the baking heat of stage four did not take too much out of him. Other names worth backing are Tim Merlier (Soudal–Quick-Step), Olav Kooij (Decathlon-CMA CGM), Birniam Girmay (NSN) and maybe even Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Premier Tech).
Our general classification leader, Torstein Træen (Uno-X Pro), has every chance of staying in yellow today and with a bit of luck tomorrow, on the moutain stage up to Gavarnie-Gèdre, he could still be in possesion of the maillot jaune when Norway take on England in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final. What momentous day that could be for his country.
The UCI, the sport’s governing body, and the Tour organiser, ASO, initiated emergency measures yesterday to help mitigate the heatwave that beating down on the race this year. With no signs of the heat relenting and Météo-France retaining its orange weather warning, the softened provisions around feed zones look to remain in place.
After claiming the yellow jersey, Træen said: “With this heat, you don’t know how the body is going to react.” It may not be as hot as the 40C-plus conditions experienced on stage four, but the tarmac will be sticky and teams will certainly wary of the hydration levels of their riders. Expect more ice packs inside lyrca.
As we buildup towards the flag drop, let me know your predictions, thoughts and musings on today’s stage via the email link at the top of the page.
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