TDF 2021: Stage 5, Changé > Laval Espace Mayenne 27.2 km **Spoilers**

blazing_saddles
blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
edited June 2021 in Pro race

Stage 5, Changé > Laval Espace Mayenne 27.2 km

30-6-2021
First Rider 11-15am

The Tour de France leaves Brittany on stage 5 and serves the first of two time trials. This one, at 27.2kms is the longest individual time trial the Tour de France has held in the opening week since the 2008 edition. It is a first for Changé. The finish in Laval is just 5 kilometer away.
Laval last hosted a stage in 1999, when Tom Steels outsprinted Erik Zabel and Stuart O’Grady.



The route is predominantly flat and is the first real test for the GC contenders. In 2008, the top 20 riders spread out over approximately a minute and a half, so this is a major opportunity for time trialists to shine.



The route itself features an elevation gain of just 200 metres, so heavily favours the time trial specialists who have maintain a high power output. The only technical elements occur at the back end of the course.
Final kilometres




I expect some criticism with some of these and feel free to suggest any omissions.

Favourites stage 5 Tour de France 2021

***** Wout van Aert, Stefan Küng, Stefan Bissegger
**** Kasper Asgreen, Tadej Pogacar, Richie Porte
*** Søren Kragh Andersen, Julian Alaphilippe, Victor Campenaerts, Primoz Roglic
** Brandon McNulty, Jonas Vingegaard, Rigoberto Urán, Geraint Thomas,
* Tony Martin, Alexey Lutsenko, Ion Izagirre, Mikkel Bjerg

Changé

No previous stage
Population: 6,322

The locality goes down in history under the Latin name of Cambiacus, then from the Middle Ages it was called Changeium. The castle was built on the vaulted cellars of the ruined Priory. Until its acquisition by the commune in 1962 to house the town hall, this castle remained the property of the d'Elva family, of Piedmont origin.



On the road

Specialities: cheeses (Port-Salut, Chaussée aux Moines, Chamois d'Or, Fol épi, Camemberts Président and Bons Mayennais, Babybel)




Laval Espace Mayenne

Stage town for the 2nd time
Population: 49,728

Laval only hosted the Tour de France in 1999 for a stage that started in Nantes and was won in a sprint by Tom Steels, now sports director of the Deceuninck-Quick Step team. It was the second of the three stage victories of the four-time Belgian champion in this edition and the sixth of his nine victories in the Grande Boucle.
The prefecture of Mayenne has given birth to many riders who have participated in the Tour de France. At the top of the list is Jacky Durand, winner of three stages in 1994, 1995 - wearing the Yellow Jersey for two days - and 1998, and twice winner of the Most Aggressive Rider prize in 1998 and 1999, a year in which he finished last in the race.



The Pegasus hoof
A Mayenne speciality, the Sabot de Pégase (Pegasus Hoof), presented in a 380g box, is a chocolate sweet created by the pastry chef Moïse Derval as a tribute to his hometown. Indeed, Pegasus, the winged horse, is the symbol of Mayenne, a department known for its numerous stud farms and its renowned horse races. The Pegasus hoof is presented in the form of a half horse hoof and is available in white, milk or dark chocolate with hazelnut caramel.











"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments

  • rozzer32
    rozzer32 Posts: 3,923
    edited June 2021
    MvdP apparently riding a set of Princeton wheels borrowed from Cameron Wurf. Driven from Andorra last night.

    Now I know MvdP isn’t a GC threat but interested to know if Ineos gave the OK for that. I suspect they must have.
    ***** Pro Tour Pundit Champion 2020, 2018, 2017 & 2011 *****
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    MvdP says he’s never been in a wind tunnel and TT are something he’s never trained for.

    Will go as hard as he can but doesn’t expect to hold on.
    _
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    Looking forward to see what Uran does. He's got good form and I think top 5 GC
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,197
    rick_chasey said:

    MvdP says he’s never been in a wind tunnel and TT are something he’s never trained for.

    Will go as hard as he can but doesn’t expect to hold on.

    Spoken like a true MTB-er......
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    rick_chasey said:

    MvdP says he’s never been in a wind tunnel and TT are something he’s never trained for.

    Will go as hard as he can but doesn’t expect to hold on.

    They just need to get some Metallica or Slayer pumping through his earpiece and tell him he has to catch Alaphilippe by the line.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited June 2021
    A headline of Cycling News "Tour de France's youngest rider Wright finds his feet amidst crashes". That must have been a hell of a crash
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Lachlan Morton set the first time on the TT course as he rode it yesterday... 1hr 17 which includes a media interview. Quite a while in the hot seat but I expect it to fall pretty quickly!
  • red.rider
    red.rider Posts: 1,215
    Start times can be found here: https://letour.fr/en/stage-5

    The Lanterne Rouge sets off at 12:15 CEST, and MvdP goes at 16:50 CEST

    Others (PTP):
    T.MARTIN 12:24
    BISSEGGER 14:19
    KUNG 15:31
    ASGREEN 16:08
    VAN AERT 16:44

    Others (GC):
    ROGLIC 16:12
    THOMAS 16:16
    NIBALI 16:20
    URAN 16:24
    GAUDU 16:32
    QUINTANA 16:36
    MAS 16:38
    POGACAR 16:40
    KELDERMANN 16:42
    CARAPAZ 16:46
    ALAPHILIPPE 16:48
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Like many I don't really get excited by TTs as a viewer - a lot of it feels like accountancy more than racing - but today it feels like exactly what I need. Just stuff constantly happening, with a slow accumulation of news, rather than all the extreme excitement of the last few days.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406


    Orla in honorary green <3
    Correlation is not causation.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,910
    rick_chasey said:

    MvdP says he’s never been in a wind tunnel and TT are something he’s never trained for.

    Will go as hard as he can but doesn’t expect to hold on.

    Not unreasonable that he isn't a TT specialist given how many other disciplines he is active in.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    I find myself being in the odd position of being disappointed it's not a sprint stage today.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,697
    ...I still find it hard to think MvdP is going to lose yellow today. Unless he decides he just CBA
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    ddraver said:

    ...I still find it hard to think MvdP is going to lose yellow today. Unless he decides he just CBA

    Oh he's gunning for it.
    _
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    You just feel that MvdP could put in a really strong TT if he did spend some time working on position. He's got the power obviously and that ability to just keep pushing.

  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Part of me is hoping Froome at least puts himself in the hotseat for a bit, for old time's sake
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Is Kung out or something? Noticed those that picked him in PTP have changed their choice.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    It is the right distance for MvdP.
    _
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,557
    RichN95. said:

    I find myself being in the odd position of being disappointed it's not a sprint stage today.

    Isn't tomorrow's stage finishing where Cav won his first?
    Today is the chance to draw breath!
  • focuszing723
    focuszing723 Posts: 8,149


    If Thomas puts in a good performance it's going to be impressive.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    edited June 2021
    Cameras cut away from Kuss finishing in 33:58 - is that the first proper marker?

    (probably not - Bjerg is going faster, but...)
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,652
    Mikkel Berg smashed it. True Viking.

    I reckon Pog will have a good one, they may have reconned together
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  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Not convinced by all this talk of sending out various riders early (and it's not just Carlton that's said it). They do know they're riding in GC order, right?
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,652
    Oooh, bit of rain now. What's the forecast like?
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Guardian live blog claiming Cavendish "limped home".

    Faster than Martin, Froome, Declerq...
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Guardian live blog claiming Cavendish "limped home".

    Faster than Martin, Froome, Declerq...


    I'm always astonished to find there are people who think that all the riders go full gas in a TT rather them most of them using it as a pseudo rest day.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    RichN95. said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Guardian live blog claiming Cavendish "limped home".

    Faster than Martin, Froome, Declerq...


    I'm always astonished to find there are people who think that all the riders go full gas in a TT rather them most of them using it as a pseudo rest day.
    It just seemed such a weird conclusion to draw, like Cavendish had left everything out on the road and ended up drained, rather than rolling around with a reasonably paced TT. Think he might still be a bit excited from yesterday though - he's faster than most of the other sprinters by quite a distance.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,320
    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Guardian live blog claiming Cavendish "limped home".

    Faster than Martin, Froome, Declerq...

    That's about as damning statement about Froome as you are likely to read.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,652
    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    RichN95. said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Guardian live blog claiming Cavendish "limped home".

    Faster than Martin, Froome, Declerq...


    I'm always astonished to find there are people who think that all the riders go full gas in a TT rather them most of them using it as a pseudo rest day.
    It just seemed such a weird conclusion to draw, like Cavendish had left everything out on the road and ended up drained, rather than rolling around with a reasonably paced TT. Think he might still be a bit excited from yesterday though - he's faster than most of the other sprinters by quite a distance.
    Still needs some kms in the legs for the coming mountains maybe?
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • johnboy183
    johnboy183 Posts: 832
    TGH setting off now. Is he going to try and make a significant move back up the leaderboard or is he now playing the domestique role and keeping his powder dry?

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