Van Aert finally gets his Dauphiné win — and he owes the INEOS lead-out train a drink

Stage 5 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has been won by Wout van Aert of Visma | Lease a Bike, who controlled the race throughout. He claimed victory after a relatively steady stage before the peloton heads into the mountains from Friday onwards.

It had again been a day for the breakaway in stage 4 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Wednesday, where Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) proved strongest ahead of an onrushing peloton. The sprinters, who were finding opportunities few and far between, had immediately looked ahead to the following day. Stage 5 was slightly more straightforward than stage 4, and seemed perfectly suited to the fast men.

Even so, the opening phase was again unusually demanding. From the start in Saint-Chamond the road rose sharply straight away, allowing a small group of riders to slip away. Among them was one Dutchman: Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step). His companions in the break were Robbe Dhondt (Team Picnic PostNL), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) and Julen Arriolabengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

The peloton was comfortable with the situation, and Bahrain Victorious, Tudor and Visma | Lease a Bike took control. Having been caught out on Wednesday, they were not going to be surprised again, keeping the six-man break on a short leash throughout.

Given the work his team were putting in at the front, Van Aert had once again set his sights on a shot at the stage win — as he had made clear before the start. "I've gained some confidence from yesterday," he said in his start interview. "Though I'm also still here to build towards the Tour de France." He had added: "With the tough final weekend, this is my last chance, so it would be nice to sprint for the win this time. The confidence has always been there. Today we are just trying to let it come down to a sprint again, but with the few sprinter teams present here, that is not always easy."

With just over ten kilometres to go, the peloton swept up the break and attention turned to the anticipated sprint finish. Bruno Armirail (Visma | Lease a Bike), having ridden at the front for virtually the entire day, took the lead three kilometres from the line before Cofidis moved to the front once the GC riders were safely delivered to the final straight.

Per Strand Hagenes then hit the front with a kilometre to go, with Edoardo Affini and Van Aert tucked in behind. Joshua Tarling tried to push through, but Affini held his line for a long time — and as Tarling moved, he accidentally impeded his own Netcompany INEOS teammate Dorian Godon. Van Aert held his wheel and powered past to take a well-deserved stage victory, ahead of Hugo Hofstetter.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs