Belgian Wout van Aert won the fifth stage of the Tour de France, a 183km ride from Gap that featured no breakaway, an almost unprecedented scenario in normal racing conditions in the modern era on Wednesday. France’s Julian Alaphilippe lost the competition’s overall lead after a 20-second penalty, handing it to UK’s Adam Yates.
Dutchman Cees Bol was second and Sam Bennett took third place to become the first Irishman to wear the green jersey for the points classification since Sean Kelly in 1990.
Alaphilippe was first reported as having retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after staying tucked in the peloton the whole day. But it has since been announced that he has lost the Tour de France's overall lead after being handed a 20-second penalty at the end of Wednesday's stage.
Alaphilippe snatched a bottle 17km from the line, but the rules state that feeding is illegal within 20km of the finish.
Adam Yates is the new overall leader in the updated Tour de France rankings.
Thursday's sixth stage is a 191km middle-mountain trek from Le Teil to the Mont Aigoual.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
