UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Tadej Pogacar took charge of the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Wednesday as Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel won the Stage 5 time trial.
One day after registering his 100th career win, Pogacar took the overall lead from Mathieu van der Poel.
World and Olympic champion Evenepoel finished 16 seconds faster than Pogacar with Italian Edoardo Affini 33 sec off the stage lead in third.
Pogacar has a 42-second advantage over Evenepoel in the general classification.
Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, who began the day just eight seconds behind yellow jersey holder Van der Poel, suffered a horror ride as the Dane could only finish 13th – one minute and 21 seconds behind Evenepoel.
Dutchman Van der Poel also struggled to maintain the pace, coming in 18th, 1 min 44 sec behind the winner, dropping down to sixth overall.
“I'm super happy with how I rode today, to be 17 seconds behind the world champion, the Olympic champion, the best time-trialist in the world right now, probably,” Pogacar said on Wednesday.
“I'm super happy to be second placed today … and gaining time on the others. I'm super, super happy and proud.
“It's a very good day and I'm happy, but I'm just happy that this day is over and we can focus now on the next days and keep the ball rolling in this Tour de France.”
Vingegaard slipped down to fourth overall while Pogacar also holds the polka dot and green jerseys.
Affini, riding his first Tour de France, set the early pace, and his leading time lasted almost three hours until Evenepoel upped the pace in the second half of the course.
The Belgian was four seconds down on the Italian at the second intermediate checkpoint, but the 25-year-old, who finished third last year on his Tour debut, showed his class and crossed the line 33 seconds faster than Affini.
“I didn't really feel like I could go any faster, so I think in general I'm happy with this result,” Evenepoel said.
“I think what we saw in the intermediate, that I was always going up and also still gaining time in the last 7-8 kilometres. So I paced it perfectly, and everything was on point.”
Earlier, French cyclist Emilien Jeanniere of the TotalEnergies team was forced to abandon the Tour de France after cycling 174-kilometres with a fractured left shoulder blade.
The 26-year-old, riding in his first Tour, crashed at the end of Monday's Stage 3 in Dunkirk.
His team said he suffered facial injuries, multiple bruises and had stitches in a number of cuts. He even had to get a dentist to open up to fix a broken tooth.
Remarkably, Jeanniere went on to complete the Stage 4 route from Amiens to Rouen on Tuesday, struggling home in 147th place, more than 15 minutes behind stage winner Pogacar.
His team said further medical examinations on Wednesday morning had “revealed a fracture of the left shoulder blade” and he had withdrawn from the race.
Stage 6 will take the peloton from Bayeux to Vire in a region of France known as Norman Switzerland featuring some high hills and stunning views.
The finale should be spectacular with the Cote de Vaudry likely to feature some attacks from top contenders before an uphill finish with a 10 per cent gradient.
