![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/UM7Lun3BgKCja5wJH4kcnd.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRefresh <\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:21:35.464Z<\/p>\n
Visma-Lease a Bike, incidentally, are still leading the teams classification.<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:21:03.114Z<\/p>\n
While Poga\u010dar remains in the polka dot jersey (no points on offer today), there’s a new face leading the Best Young Rider’s competition, although he did win the ranking outright last year…<\/p>\n
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(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:18:39.819Z<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar has also taken over from Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) at the head of the points ranking, although given Milan drops to second and Poga\u010dar will be in yellow, the Italian will still be wearing the same green jersey tomorrow.<\/p>\n
![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HwQPga5jAvBWV3LA7i4P7N.jpg\")
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(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:15:10.415Z<\/p>\n
And here is Poga\u010dar back in yellow…<\/p>\n
![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rUWBrk7ZHj6JNebmAuJsnm.jpg\")
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(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:12:59.427Z<\/p>\n
Some initial thoughts:-
– Poga\u010dar’s stunning time trial puts him into the overall lead, a day later than in 2024 and with – unlike last year – all the climbing to come. Having gained time on everybody bar key question now is a) will he try and defend the lead, having taken it so early and b) will he be as strong in the mountains as he was in the Dauphin\u00e9\/last year’s Tour\/last year’s Giro.<\/p>\n
– Remco Evenepoel may not have taken yellow but his options on GC are more than intact, and his candidature for the podium at least is looking good.<\/p>\n
– Can Jonas Vingegaard bounce back in the mountains? He has to attack now to have any chance of yellow, but he’s always strongest in the third week.<\/p>\n
– The three top names of the 2024 Tour are all but confirmed as the top three names of 2025.<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:05:49.870Z<\/p>\n
And there’s the top 10 on the GC standings, with some considerable changes…<\/p>\n
![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TMRTSDKGgphx98Kevo8kFX.png\")
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(Image credit: FirstCycling)<\/p>\n
2025-07-09T16:03:08.186Z<\/p>\n
Our full race report of what has proved an even more dramatic stage 5 than expected is right here: 2025-07-09T15:59:08.963Z<\/p>\n A shot of Mathieu van der Poel as he reaches the line and salutes the crowd, knowing his time in yellow is over.<\/p>\n Tour de France 2025: Mathieu van der Poel completes stage 5 (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:50:51.577Z<\/p>\n No yellow jersey for Evenepoel, whose dream result would have been a first ever maillot jaune, but a knock-out performance nonetheless.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:49:04.608Z<\/p>\n Some first words from the stage winner, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep): “You never know because big guys like [longstanding leader] Edoardo [Affini], they can do these kinds of courses very well. Also they can save a little bit more in the finals like yesterday so I knew I had a good chance, but the legs were there, and everything has to go as the plan is.” 2025-07-09T15:45:55.433Z<\/p>\n In a nutshell: Evenepoel more than lived up to expectations, Poga\u010dar was considerably better than expected and Vingegaard has taken a step backwards – but he’s far from out of the fight.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:44:45.082Z<\/p>\n Here’s the stage classification, courtesy of FirstCycling<\/a><\/p>\n (Image credit: FirstCycling)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:41:03.965Z<\/p>\n A day after taking his 100th career win in Rouen, Poga\u010dar is back in yellow. If there were any lingering doubts about his status as top favourite, they’ve shrunk quite a bit more now.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:39:02.939Z<\/p>\n Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has won stage 5 of the Tour de France, and Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the new race leader<\/strong><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:38:45.747Z<\/p>\n Van der Poel crosses the line 1:43 down on Evenepoel.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:37:21.585Z<\/p>\n It’s a virtual certainty that Poga\u010dar will be returning to the yellow jersey this evening for the first time this year.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:35:44.916Z<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar crosses the line 16 seconds down on Evenepoel, but 1-05 up on Vingegaard. A big step forward too for the Slovenian.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:34:41.409Z<\/p>\n Meanwhile Poga\u010dar almost overcooks a corner but stays in control. That was close.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:34:12.998Z<\/p>\n Jonas Vingegaard finishes 1:21 down on Evenepoel.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:33:29.142Z<\/p>\n Vingegaard is riding flawlessly, clearly familiar with the course and comfortable on his TT bike, but he just isn’t producing the same kind of power as Poga\u010dar and Evenepoel today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:31:49.042Z<\/p>\n Tadej Poga\u010dar’s gap on Evenepoel is roughly 18 seconds. This is a very powerful performance by the Slovenian, particularly considering how he didn’t race so strongly in the Dauphin\u00e9 equivalent mid-week TT – and whom he’s racing against today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:30:19.056Z<\/p>\n Best Young Rider leader Vauquelin comes home with a time of 37:31, a solid 49 seconds down on Evenepoel and fourth on the stage. He could well remain in the BYR lead tonight as a result.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:28:43.309Z<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar seems to be pulling time back a little on Evenepoel, but it may be too much to go for the stage win.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:28:11.683Z<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar out on the course, he could be in yellow this evening<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:25:16.034Z<\/p>\n Vingegaard is over a minute down on Evenepoel, shipping important time on the Belgian. The key question long-term, though, is maybe how much he’s losing to Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:24:17.919Z<\/p>\n Jo\u00e3o Almeida crosses the line more than 1:14 down on Evenepoel. Sixth place on the stage for now, but there’s still some big names to come…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:23:29.174Z<\/p>\n Van der Poel is more than 1 minute down at the half-way point of the time trial. After three days in the lead, he’s out of yellow for sure.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:21:16.017Z Remco Evenepoel smashes Edoardo Affini’s longstanding time with a time of 36:42, 33 seconds faster. Simply stunning.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:20:20.003Z<\/p>\n Whatever happens now, this is a stunning ride by Evenepoel…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:19:55.011Z<\/p>\n Evenepoel soars through the final kilometre at a searing pace, taking maximum advantage of each of the corners.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:19:23.394Z<\/p>\n Pogacar is 12 seconds down on Evenepoel, but he’s 18 seconds up on Vinegegaard at checkpoint 2. That’s an important gain on his arch-rival.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:17:16.010Z<\/p>\n Vingegaard is 41 seconds down on Evenepoel at km 16.2. He’s shipping time steadily on the Belgian.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:16:04.494Z<\/p>\n At intermediate time check number three meanwhile, Evenepoel is now 11 seconds faster than stage finisher, and previous best and stage leader Edoardo Affini. He’s en route for a top result for sure.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:15:16.934Z<\/p>\n Rogli\u010d finishes 46 seconds down on Affini, limiting the early damage considerably in the second half of the course.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:10:42.532Z<\/p>\n Race leader Van der Poel, the last rider through the final checkpoint, is 30 seconds slower than Luke Plapp. That puts him out of yellow – for now.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:09:19.762Z<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar is just a single second slower than Evenepoel at CP 1, so he’s 18 seconds up on Vingegaard.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:08:20.312Z<\/p>\n Remco Evenepoel during the stage<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:06:38.212Z<\/p>\n Vingegaard goes through the first time check 22 seconds down on Plapp, and 9.5 seconds down on Evenepoel. It’s early days, but the Belgian is regaining time on at least one of his key rivals.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:04:22.675Z<\/p>\n Evenepoel crosses the second time check, eight seconds down on Plapp and four seconds slower than Affini.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:03:15.454Z<\/p>\n Finally Tour de France leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) begins his stage. All riders are now out on the course.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:02:25.830Z<\/p>\n The World Champion secured the 100th win of his career yesterday at the Tour, so he, too, has his reasons to be feeling motivated in this key 33 kilometre effort against the clock.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:01:01.017Z<\/p>\n Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) starts his time trial.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T15:00:32.422Z<\/p>\n Vingegaard has already won a time trial this year, of course, back in the Volta ao Algarve, but the big source of motivation today will be how he managed to gain time on Poga\u010dar in the key warmup TT test at the Criterium du Dauphin\u00e9.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:57:56.708Z<\/p>\n Now it’s Jonas Vingegaard’s turn to head down the start ramp.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:57:24.547Z<\/p>\n Rogli\u010d, meanwhile, is 49 seconds down on Plapp at Checkpoint 2 (16.4km). A lot depends on what the other GC contenders do, of course, but he’s teetering perilously close to the edge of a real setback.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:55:58.469Z<\/p>\n That second place won’t send alarm bells ringing in the Soudal camp just yet. Plapp made a very strong start and then, as he graphically put it ‘flew too close to the sun’ and burned out in the second half. Evenepoel, most likely, will be measuring his effort.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:54:22.226Z<\/p>\n Evenepoel is three seconds slower than Plapp at the first checkpoint.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:53:03.640Z<\/p>\n Best Young Rider leader K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (Ark\u00e9a-B&B Hotels), winner of a stage in last year’s Tour and second in the Tour de Suisse last month, starts his time trial to enormous cheers.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:51:32.648Z<\/p>\n Should Evenepoel win today, it’d be the reigning World TT Champ’s 21st time trial of his career, and his first in a Grand Tour since the Tour de France last year.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:49:35.184Z<\/p>\n Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) finishes the course 1:14 down on Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:49:01.078Z<\/p>\n Rogli\u010d has already lost 28 seconds at the first checkpoint. This is not looking good for the Slovenian star.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:48:26.189Z<\/p>\n Straight after Evenepoel, it’s Jo\u00e2o Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who is down the ramp. Touted as a potential GC contender after his Tour de Suisse win, for now he’s looking wholly dedicated to teammate Pogacar’s cause.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:46:22.361Z<\/p>\n So much is at stake for Evenepoel in today’s race. This is where he not only goes for a stage win, but also where he’ll hopefully (from his point of view) make serious inroads into Vingegaard and Evenepoel’s overall advantage. Can he take yellow? In just about an hour’s time, we’ll have a much better idea…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:45:01.571Z<\/p>\n World Champion and leading favourite Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) begins the time trial.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:44:06.847Z<\/p>\n And even as Van Aert finishes, another top Belgian is about to begin…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:43:51.194Z<\/p>\n Van Aert completes the course<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:40:37.580Z<\/p>\n Van Aert finishes nearly four minutes down on his teammate Affini, whose chances of a top five result today, at the least, are looking better and better.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:39:51.737Z<\/p>\n A first shot of Tadej Poga\u010dar warming up at the start, warming up underneath some water sprays.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:38:37.381Z<\/p>\n Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is about to start. The Slovenian has five Grand Tour wins in his palmares, most recently the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a last year, and has numerous time trial wins on his record as welll. But after his Giro d’Italia crash-out, he’s had a muted start to the Tour too, and is nearly 90 seconds down on race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). So he will be fighting to get back on terms today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:32:36.397Z<\/p>\n Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) goes through the second checkpoint (km 16.4) 1:12 down on teammate Luke Plapp. The West Australian GC contender has had a tough start to the Tour after crashing on stage 1 and things are still not looking up yet.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:29:58.198Z<\/p>\n Riders now leaving at two minute intervals, all the way to yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 1700 CET.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:25:21.464Z<\/p>\n As we head into the last 20 starters of the day, here’s a reminder of how things look on GC, via FirstCycling<\/a><\/p>\n (Image credit: FirstCycling)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:22:05.595Z<\/p>\n Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) completes the course in 16th place.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:20:20.818Z<\/p>\n Interesting how the top five on the intermediate time splits have remained unchanged for a very long time now. No disrespect intended to Edoardo Affini’s excellent result at the top of the leader board, but it’s also true that a lot of the top time trialling names like Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), just crossing the line 2:46 down, are not a factor at all today. This perhaps suggests that given just how tough the second and third weeks are, quite a few important names who aren’t on the GC fight are under orders simple to take things as gently as possible in what is – for the modern-day Tour – quite a long opening time trial.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:15:49.697Z<\/p>\n Swiss National TT Champion Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) rolls across the finish line 1:13 down. Like Van Aert, it seems like he’s keeping his powder dry for deeper into the race.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:13:52.380Z<\/p>\n Van Aert is 1:47 down on the best time set by Luke Plapp at the first checkpoint. Likely he’s under orders to take things as calmly as possible.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:10:34.133Z<\/p>\n Some interesting comments from former European ITT Champion Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) out there to Eurosport<\/a> after completing the course: “We’d expect Tadej (Poga\u010dar) to be up there on a course with so little altitude [gain] that he’ll do well with his absolute power, but I have high expectations from Jonas [Vingegaard], he’s spent so much time on the TT bike and he did so well in the Dauphin\u00e9 TT.” 2025-07-09T14:07:04.674Z<\/p>\n It’s not all noisy crowds out there on the course…<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:03:15.686Z Affini, meanwhile, was the 45th rider to start today, and he has been in the hot seat now for nearly two hours.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T14:01:10.940Z<\/p>\n Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) pounds through the early kilometres. He has had a fairly lowkey start to the 2025 Tour, but as a former Tour de France time trial winner and National Champion, he’s got to be counted as a potential contender for today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:55:46.195Z<\/p>\n At the other end of the course, meanwhile, Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), meanwhile, rolls across the line more than four minutes down on teammate and stage leader Affini.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:54:46.299Z<\/p>\n Warren Barguil (Picnic-PostNL) rolls down the start ramp. The former Tour de France mountains and double stage winner is about to reach his native Brittany, but Wawa is already getting some big cheers from the crowds in the neighbouring region of Normandy.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:52:04.701Z<\/p>\n 17th best time for Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at checkpoint 1, 47 seconds down on former teammate Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla).<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:44:41.991Z<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) is another former Tour stage TT winner currently out on the Caen course. Alaf’s lone Grand Tour victory against the clock came during his most serious GC bid at the race, back in 2019 in Pau.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:41:56.970Z<\/p>\n Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) heads down the ramp in what is the second-last Tour de France time trial of his career. A former British National TT champ, Thomas is a former first week stage winner of a Tour de France time trial back in 2017 when he won a rainsoaked opening race against the clock in Dusseldorf. This time round, though, he’ll likely be easing back to save energy for breakaways and team support role further down the line.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:36:48.027Z<\/p>\n Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) powers along the course. Back in 2024 Vlasov was Bora’s plan ‘B’ for the Tour, but he had to abandon injured before the Pyrenees and this year, at more than 12 minutes down, he’s looking at a 100% support role for GC leader and teammate Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:29:37.132Z<\/p>\n Whoever wins today, it’ll be from a very different kind of stage to the last one to reach Caen way back in 2006 when it was won by Oscar Freire in a bunch sprint. To his right, green jersey Robbie McEwen, to his left, yellow jersey Tom Boonen.<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:26:35.656Z<\/p>\n Foss’ effort is not paying off, as he’s nearly a minute down on best time split at Checkpoint 2, still held by early starter Luke Plapp.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:23:21.742Z<\/p>\n ‘Don’t start crazy, you’ll catch me’ \u2013 Tadej Poga\u010dar jokes with Mathieu van der Poel ahead of Tour de France time trial<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:21:33.350Z<\/p>\n Riders are now leaving at 90 second intervals and will be up until the last 15 start from 1630 onwards, at 2 minute intervals.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:14:44.394Z<\/p>\n And there’s a big cheer from the crowds for 2025 Giro d’Italia winner Simon Yates (Visma-Lease A Bike), as he starts out of the gate. He was a winner of a Giro TT back in the day in Budapest, but likely taking it more steady here today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:12:04.093Z<\/p>\n Former World TT Champion Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) is out on the course right now, cracking out what looks like a seriously fast pace. In the absence of Filippo Ganna, who crashed out injured, he’s likely his team’s main man for today.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:08:21.327Z<\/p>\n Meanwhile elsewhere on Planet Cycling, stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia Women has just finished…you can read about it here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:06:21.123Z<\/p>\n Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), like Armirail with multiple French National Time Trial titles in his palmares, crosses the line. But the former track World Champion and Giro d’Italia breakaway stage winner is a lot further off the pace, 1:53 down<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T13:02:11.092Z<\/p>\n Here’s a shot of the current stage leader passing by some fans<\/p>\n Tour de France stage 5: early leader Edoardo Affini (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:57:55.374Z<\/p>\n But he just misses out. Only 2.47 seconds slower than Affini, who is presumably breathing a big sigh of relief in the hot seat right now.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:56:47.260Z<\/p>\n He’s now tied on time with Affini at the same point coming into the last kilometre…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:55:47.121Z<\/p>\n Armirail has reversed the time losses in dramatic style, and is just four seconds down on Affini in the closing kilometres. He’s definitely in with a shout of the stage lead.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:53:33.321Z<\/p>\n Jonathan Milan comes home 4:05 down on stage leader Affini. The Lidl-Trek sprinter’s priorities lie elsewhere.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:51:57.254Z<\/p>\n Another DNS today: \u00c9milien Jeanni\u00e8re (TotalEnergies). According to his team, the French sprinter broke his shoulderblade in the stage 3 late pileup.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:47:00.861Z<\/p>\n UAE lead sports director Joxean Fern\u00e1ndez Matxin talks to Eurosport<\/a> about Poga\u010dar’s chances this afternoon. Like everybody else, he tips Evenepoel to be the top favourite, but he’s also saying that he think Poga\u010dar can be closer to the Belgian than he was in the Dauphin\u00e9 equivalent TT, as a result of ‘hard work, positioning on the bike and the mentality you need to tackle a Tour de France time trial.” 2025-07-09T12:40:48.546Z<\/p>\n Hmm. Four seconds down on Plapp at the first checkpoint, Armirail has shed a further 14 seconds by checkpoint 2. Barring major surprises, it looks like the Frenchman is moving out of the running for the stage win.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:36:10.806Z<\/p>\n A DNS today…<\/p>\n \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 #TDF2025Get well soon, @JasperDeBuyst \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83e\ude79 pic.twitter.com\/YXQte2HugSJuly 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 2025-07-09T12:31:34.080Z<\/p>\n Wow, but here comes Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). The three times French National TT Champion was four seconds faster than Affini at the first checkpoint.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:29:48.101Z Despite almost overcooking a late corner, Affini comes home with a new best stage time of 37:15.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:27:36.754Z<\/p>\n Affini blasts past an earlier starter. It’s looking good.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:26:44.807Z<\/p>\n Affini marks the best time at checkpoint 3, and is 21 seconds up on Plapp there. Could well be the best time at the finish too.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:17:14.184Z<\/p>\n Another rider currently out of the course whose main goal will be to get round incident-free and unscathed is Lenny Mart\u00ednez (Bahrain Victorious). Dead last on stage 1, Mart\u00ednez bounced back with a vengeance on stage 4 and the French climber gets a lot of cheers as he heads towards the finish.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:15:06.809Z<\/p>\n Green jersey Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) rolls out of the start. For the Italian sprinter today is likely simply a day to get through.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:14:24.430Z<\/p>\n Current European TT Champ Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) is turning in a very strong time, closing in on Plapp to just four seconds at checkpoint 2. If he’s timed his effort right, he could be a threat to the top of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:06:45.794Z<\/p>\n A shot of the stage leader<\/p>\n Tour de France 2025: early stage 5 leader Iv\u00e1n Romeo (Movistar) (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T12:01:37.443Z<\/p>\n Some words from Luke Plapp on Eurosport<\/a> about his ride: “I flew a bit too close to the sun and got burned, I really just tried to attack it and go out really hard and see how long I could hold on….I just blew a bit towards the end.”<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:54:30.992Z<\/p>\n Nope, Plapp has shed a lot of time later on. Ten seconds faster than all the previous riders at CP2, but at the finish he’s 15 seconds down on Romeo, who remains the stage leader.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:52:39.402Z<\/p>\n Plapp is into the last kilometre, but it’s going to be tight…<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:50:13.486Z<\/p>\n Sure enough, Romeo storms home with a new best course time of 37:44.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:48:36.307Z The first rider across the line, Fedorov clocks a time of 42:24<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:44:01.497Z<\/p>\n Romeo is trailing Plapp right now but he’s not giving up at all, shooting past Swiss allrounder Sylvain Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who started three minutes ahead of him, at around seven kilometres to go.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:35:43.527Z<\/p>\n Here’s a shot of Luke Plapp out on the course…<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:34:05.801Z<\/p>\n Sure enough, Plapp is 10 seconds up on Romeo at CP2 as well.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:33:35.658Z<\/p>\n Romeo currently has the best time for checkpoint 2, (Km 16.4) of 18:50, but considering Plapp has yet to reach there, that may change very soon.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:29:08.579Z<\/p>\n And Romeo’s time for CP 1 has barely had time to go on the top results board before it’s been beaten by Australian National TT Champion Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) by 10 seconds.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:27:29.224Z Romeo has smashed teammate Barta’s time out of the park at Checkpoint 1, clocking 9:51. That’s over a minute faster.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:23:13.575Z<\/p>\n While we’re waiting for more early times, for a full preview of today’s stage, James Moultrie has taken a deep dive here for Cyclingnews. 2025-07-09T11:21:01.294Z<\/p>\n The fiirst riders are through checkpoint 1 at Cambes-en-plain: Will Barta (Movistar), who ran Primoz Rogli\u010d a very close second in a Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a TT back in the day, is best time with 10:56.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:16:39.320Z<\/p>\n Someone who first put in an appearance in the 1993 Tour de France, in the Pyrenean stage to Andorra won by Oliverio Rinc\u00f3n, is still here cheering on the fans in Caen today.<\/p>\n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:14:02.354Z<\/p>\n One of the key early starters of the race is now in action. That’s Ivan Romeo (Movistar), the reigning U23 World TT Champion. Definitely a time to watch.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:08:59.625Z<\/p>\n There are three interemediate checkpoints:<\/p>\n Km 8: Cambes-en-plain<\/p>\n Km 16.4: Thaon<\/p>\n Km 24.7: Gruchy<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:07:01.066Z<\/p>\n Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana) rolls down the start ramp. Stage 5 of the 2025 Tour is officially underway.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:05:24.395Z<\/p>\n The weather incidentally is dry and warm, expected to reach a maximum of 27\u00baC in the late afternoon. Winds of up to 10kmh, so shouldn’t have too much of an effect.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T11:01:55.087Z<\/p>\n No mountains points on offer today, so assuming he finishes the stage, Poga\u010dar is guaranteed at least one day in the polka-dot jersey in the 2025 Tour. He’s won the mountains classification outright twice before, too, so don’t be surprised if he’s leading the ranking for more than just that extra 24 hours, though.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:58:33.073Z<\/p>\n Less than ten minutes to go before the time trial gets underway, so here’s a reminder of the various classification leaders:<\/p>\n Overall (yellow jersey): <\/strong>Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/p>\n Points (green jersey):<\/strong> Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)<\/p>\n Mountains (polka-dot jersey)<\/strong>: Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates)<\/p>\n Best Young Rider (white):<\/strong> K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (Ark\u00e9a-B&B Hotels)<\/p>\n Teams: <\/strong>Visma-Lease a Bike<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:55:43.751Z<\/p>\n For those wanting to get to know the bike in more detail, Will Jones has a full gallery and technical breakdown of Evenepoel’s TT machine, right here.<\/p>\n A 64-tooth chainring and custom bars for Remco Evenepoel’s time trial bike for Stage 5 of the Tour de France<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:46:27.353Z<\/p>\n A shot this morning of Remco Evenepoel’s TT bike for today’s stage. He’s due off at 1644 CET.<\/p>\n 2025 Tour de France stage 5: Remco Evenepoel’s TT bike (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:42:47.730Z<\/p>\n Evenepoel has some major GC aspirations as well of course, and Stephen Farrand has written all about what today means for Evenepoel, here:<\/p>\n ‘A yellow dream is possible’ – Remco Evenepoel eyes Tour de France leader jersey after responding to Tadej Pogcar’s attacks on hilly road to Rouen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:39:50.863Z<\/p>\n Enter stage left, therefore, Remco Evenepoel, double World Time Trial Champion, winner of the same first week TT last year in the Tour and winner of the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 time trial. The Soudal-QuickStep leader was already a top favourite and in the regrettable absence of Italian TT giant Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), who crashed out in the very first day of the Tour<\/a>, and leading Swiss specialist Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R Mondiale), who also exited the race after falling on stage 1, arguably even more so.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:35:13.388Z<\/p>\n In stark contrast to the stage 13 mountain TT, with 600+ metres of elevation gain in 10 kilometres, this one has a whopping 200 metres of elevation gain over 33 kilometres, and that comparatively low count means this first-week test favours the TT specialists.<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:31:49.699Z<\/p>\n Here’s a map of the route, running northwesterly out of Caen into the Normandy countryside then looping back to the finish in the city.<\/p>\n Tour de France stage 5 time trial route (Image credit: ASO)<\/p>\n 2025-07-09T10:18:46.140Z<\/p>\n For all the start-times, Cyclingnews has it in full here. There are 181 starters, the first 86 off at minute intervals (until 1430 CET), then the next 80 at 90 second intervals (until 1630), and the final 15 at 2 minute intervals.<\/p>\n
Tour de France stage 5: Remco Evenepoel uses pure power to win individual time trial while Tadej Poga\u010dar moves into yellow jersey<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2DutorxHRXkQbqbqfGhyKa.jpg\")
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“In the end I think it was pretty good, I didn’t really feel like I could go any faster and happy too with this second stage win for our team [after Merlier on stage 3], it’s really nice.”
“I kind of pushed steady, harder on the uphills than the downhills of course, but my strongest point was keeping my pace in the end as in the first ten ks. We saw I was still gaining time in the last eight kilometres so I paced it perfectly.”<\/p>\n![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bZDdVmpUZeC9hHzbiRURNa.png\")
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\nEvenepoel into the provisional lead.<\/p>\n![\"Remco](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/JwYUBSHFxZ3qH8TdiChyVU.jpg\")
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He also says that teammates Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson, both key GC figures, were “really in the zone” this morning at the team hotel and the other riders left them well alone. Or as he succinctly put it, “No jokes.”<\/p>\n![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/QjA4HhpRUKhycpht9v2C95.jpg\")
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\nAffini remains in the lead<\/p>\n![\"2006](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/E8koq6ayvS35atUnKGztMd.jpg\")
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As for the stage 5 course itself, he describes it as technical at the start, more straightforward in the middle, and then technical in the end.<\/p>\n\n
\nEdoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) new stage leader<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2qwrCLXM7Lf578m4dvjtZD.jpg\")
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\nFirst finisher<\/p>\n![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a2Ey8moJJLAm8RzMYNs6Uj.jpg\")
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\nNew best time<\/p>\n
Tour de France 2025 stage 5 preview – Caen time trial brings GC battle between Poga\u010dar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel into the spotlight<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/6CRxge46zx6ytrEm83Ro5D.jpg\")
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