Lotto-Soudal rider Andre Greipel of Germany overcame wet conditions at stage 5 of the Tour de France 2015 to win the stage of the race via an impressive sprint finish.
The 189.5km stretch of race from Arras to Amiens saw a lot of crashes on the day, although being a relatively easier day of the tour so far. Greipel, however, made the most use of it, as he overcame Slovak cyclist Peter Sagan, as well as British rider Mark Cavendish to finish ahead in the race.
Sagan and Cavendish came second and third in the stage 5 of the race respectively.
This is Greipel's second stage win in this year's Tour – already having won stage 2 of the race earlier. The German has now held the green jersey over the course of four stages. (Green is worn by the leader with the highest points, which are awarded based on the passing order during intermediate sprints and at the finish line.)
In a dramatic race, Greipel surged from behind to take the spoils, getting past Russia's Alexander Kristoff, Cavendish and France's Arnaud Démare. In the face of a strong headwind, Kristoff was first to launch, followed by Démare (FDJ) and Cavendish. But a rejuvenated Greipel timed it perfectly to come through for the win, getting past Sagan.
"It was an interesting sprint because none of the top sprinters had any of their lead-out men to lead the sprint for them in the final 300 metres. You had to improvise a little bit. I looked for an opening and saw there was one on the left. I was a bit far off at the 300 metres but I was lucky to still have the strength to pull it off. It was interesting," Greipel said after the race.
"Before thinking of a third win I want to enjoy the second. To win two stages and keep the green jersey I can only be happy with this stage."
The result doesn't change the standings in the overall list as Etixx-Quick Step rider Tony Martin still holds the yellow jersey (awarded to a race leader following each stage in the Tour de France) after he won the Stage 4. The German leads 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome in the overall classification by a margin of 12 seconds.
Stage 6 of the race now heads to Abbeville / Le Havre. The 191.5km stretch of the race consists of the Upper Normandy cliffs of Seine-Maritime.
The stage is predicted to be a little bouncier and it runs right along the Normandy shore, which means wind will have a massive effect on the riders. However, the race on the day will be a long ride that a few riders will have fun with at the finish.
WHERE TO WATCH LIVE
In India, the Tour de France Stage 6 can be watched live on Ten Sports (7pm IST), with the option of live streaming on tensports.com
Viewers in the UK can catch it on Eurosport from 1:15pm BST. ITV4 will be broadcasting with programmes starting at 2pm BST while S4C's live coverage starts at 3pm.
Highlights: Eurosport2 6pm-7pm & 9pm-10:30pm; ITV4 7pm-8pm; S4C from 10pm
Live TV: British Eurosport, ITV4, S4C
Viewers in the US can catch it on NBC from 8am ET - broadcasting four to five hours of live coverage every stage on its NBC Sports channel.
NBC Sports will also air a slightly compressed three-hour broadcast of each stage in primetime, starting at 8pm ET each night.
