Tour de France 2018, stage five LIVE: Peter Sagan wins sprint in Quimper ahead of Sonny Colbrelli and Philippe Gilbert
Stage four was, for the most part, a relaxing jaunt but stage five of this Tour de France will be much tougher: the peloton face 205km of rolling up-and-down racing over five categorised climbs which, for the first time this year, will really drain the legs.
The day begins in Lorient and snakes north to Quimper. Much of the climbing is over short sharp ascents on narrow roads which will test the will of the sprinters desperate to get to what is an inviting finish for them to attack. Peter Sagan will fancy the win, as might punchers like Greg van Avermaet and even climbers like Geraint Thomas, as Chris Froome aims simply to stay safe.
Click on stage 5 to refresh our interactive tracker:
Brilliant, again, from the five-time green-jersey winner, who lurked and waited and then pounced on Van Avermaet and Gilbert to clinch the stage in style. Sonny Colbrelli came through on his wheel in second, with Gilbert eventually finishing third.
The peloton successfully negotiate a sweeping hairpin into the narrow lanes which lead to the finish at Quimper. Team Sky are on the nose looking to control the pace.
The bunch is much bigger than most people predicted – the day's categorised climbs have failed to split them – and this could prove problematic as they approach the narrowed bends heading into Quimper. The breakaway are now only 20 seconds clear and it's fair to say their work is virtually done.
Confirmation that over the course of the day's breakaway, Tom Skujins has amassed enough King of the Mountains points in order to earn the polka dot jersey on tomorrow's stage six – and he becomes the first Latvian ever to wear the Tour de France's famous polka dots.
The breakaway is benefitting from the peloton's hesitance with none of the major teams prepared to put the hammer down – yet. The trio out in front remain around 1 min 20 sec clear of the chasing pack.
Team Sky emerge near the front of the peloton, with Chris Froome safely among them after that mechanical, well-positioned to avoid the crashes and the chaos, should any ensue. BMC remain on the nose doing much of the heavy lifting here, maintaining the gap to the leading trio of around two minutes. Mark Cavendish is among a bunch of stragglers around six minutes behind the front of the race; he must not be enjoying this Tour, or this season, at all.
The breakaway has split – only three are now left on the front: Calmejane, Edet and Skujins, and the trio are only 1 min 45 sec clear of the main pack. Froome seems to have been helped back into the peloton.
Slight hitch in Chris Froome's plans as he has to quickly switch bikes on the side of a climb due to a mechanical problem with his chain coming loose. Teammate Michal Kwiakowski drops back to help him regain some lost time, but it was a swift change so it should not be too much of an issue.
The breakaway group has been completely broken apart and Lilian Clamejane is 24 seconds behind his teammate and has a very large gap between him and the rest of the breakaway riders.
Meanwhile at the back, Mark Cavendish drops to the back of the peloton and is a lonely figure with no teammates dropping back to help him.
