Tour de France's Stage 5 will be underway on Wednesday. The anticipation builds as this stage promises to be as exciting as ever. Marcel Kittel won Stage 4 and had to fight hard for it. Here the riders will ride on the Paris-Robaix cobblestones, also known as The Queen of The Classics, thought to be a treacherous ride by some.
"Kittel is beatable.I think there is a way to do something.You must be in the right place at the right time," said contestant Arnaud Demare third in Stage 4.
Inclement weather has been predicted which could make things harder for the contestants. Here General Classification (GC) riders will battle it out against the specialists reported CyclingQuotes.com.
The race will head into the Flemish town of Ypres to honour 100 years of the First World War. A lot is at stake and the riders will have to brave an arduous ride. Many of the cyclists do not possess a lot of experience of riding in such a terrain. Crashes might become a regular feature of this stage. In the last stage Chris Froome suffered a crash. Mark Cavendish who also suffered a crash was ruled out of the tournament earlier.
Most cyclists will not plan ahead here as they are not certain of what the unpredictable terrain might throw up. The GC riders thought it wise to take part in recon rides as this part of France has been rarely visited by them. Contestant Alejandro Valverde even put his skills to the test by riding on the cobbles to ready himself for this stage.
After Paris-Robaix the ride will not be familiar to the contestants. The stage is a short one with a distance of 155.3 kilometres. After the cobblestones the racers will ride from Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. The commencement of this stage will be in Belgium where it will get underway with a small and flat loop before heading toward the home country France.
The border will be crossed by the contestants just before entering Paris-Robaix after racing for 64.5 kilometres. They will encounter more flat territory for 25 kilometres . The ending stages will comprise of a run in the southeasterly direction with as many as 9 paved sectors on view. This part will take some riding.
Carrefour de l'Arbre measuring 1100m is the first sector the riders will come across, it appears 69.5 kilometres before the ending stage. Pont-Thibault, Mons-en-Pevele, Bersee, Beuvry –la-Foret, Tilloy-le-Marchiennes, Warlaing, Horlaing and Wallers are the areas in this stretch.
After the last sector the riders will have flat territory before them for the ending 6.5 kilometres. A few turns are on view; thereafter it's a straight road before the last final sharp bend. The race will finish before the entrance of the Arenberg pavement.
Where to Watch Live:
Ten Sports Day 5
7-45 PM To 9-15 PM (IST)
France
Online Links
Ten Sports Day 5 HERE
