Stage 5 Breakdown:

Stage 5 bring the riders on fairly flat 177km journey from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. The stage contains only two short 4th category climbs, with the final climb completed with 30km to go. Given that the stage profile isn’t very interesting today, I have decided to instead dig into the history of the starter town with the incredible name.

The original name of the town was just Maurienne, but it was later changed to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne after John the Baptist. The town has stored relics of Saint John in the town going all the way back to the 6th century. Saint John was a major religious figure who is widely considered to be the one who baptized Jesus himself. John was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded by Herod Antipas around 30 AD, after John rebuked his divorce and remarriage of his brothers wife. Apart from Jesus and Virgin Mary, John is the only saint whose birth and and death are both commemorated.

Going back to the stage, it is expected to be another bunch sprint. The Alpecin-Deceuninck team will be looking to make up for the disaster of Stage 3 and work to secure the first stage win of the tour for Jasper Philipsen and the team.

Favorites:
| +++ | Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud de Lie
| ++ | Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, Mark Cavendish
| + | Fabio Jakobsen, Wout van Aert, Sam Bennett

TourManager:
Etappe 5 er en ny flat etappe for rytterne etter den tøffe gårsdagen opp Col du Galibier. Forrige spurtetappe ble vunnet av Girmay etter en kaotisk avslutning grunnet et velt i de siste kilometrene. Alpecin-Deceuninck med Jasper Philipsen i spissen er trolig revansjelysten etter at forrige spurt ble spolert. Etappe 5,6 og 8 er alle flat, så det kan være lurt å possisjonere spurtere på laget for den kommende perioden.

Tune in for more stage by stage analysis, and predictions to come!