Racing

Tour de France 2015: stage five – three things we learned

German joy, French misery and the race for green heats up

Green Giant

Andre Greipel earned his second win in four days to extend his green jersey lead (pic: Sirotti)
Tony Martin waves to the crowds. The German defended his yellow jersey (pic: Sirotti)
Thibaut Pinot has endured a frustrating few days, while compatriot Nacer Bouhanni crashed out on stage five (pic: Sirotti)
Andre Greipel is the man in the green but Peter Sagan is hot on his heels (pic: Sirotti)

Green Giant

Andre Greipel appears to be in unstoppable sprinting form, back to his explosive sprinting best to win stage five of the Tour de France and extend his points classification lead.

Greipel powered to victory to ensure Mark Cavedndish (Etixx-QuickStep) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) are both still awaiting a first Tour stage win since 2013.

The Gorilla’s green jersey lead is also growing, although the contest is very much still on, with Sagan breathing down his neck.

And while his compatriot tops the points classification, Tony Martin retained his overall lead to ensure he will roll out in yellow again on stage six – with the Germans enjoying a great start to the Tour.

Where the Germans have enjoyed plenty of cheer, though, the French are suffering again. Read more of what we learned after stage five over the following pages.