Drama was what we were promised and drama, by the bucket-load, was what stage five of the Tour de France delivered.
Even before the race had hit the first of seven secteurs of pave, crashes had been a regular occurrence on the rain-soaked surfaces.
With defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) crashing out, and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) and Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) among the men to taste the tarmac it proved to be a incident-packed stage.
And once the cobbles were tackled, it was stage winner Lars Boom (Belkin) and yellow jersey Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who emerged triumphant.
The former showed why he is a former world ‘cross champion with a showcase of his aggression and hugely impressive bike-handling on the mud-soaked pave.
For Nibali, meanwhile, he stretched his overall lead on rivals including Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) with an incredible ride into third place.
Relive the stage in the full-screen gallery below, used with the permission of the ASO.
