A breakaway is when one or several riders take off and try to outrun the peloton to the finish line of a bicycle race. If the riders in a breakaway are not among the race leaders, the peloton usually lets them go for at least a while. The riders all know that breakaways are rarely successful. The peloton can ride faster due to many riders taking the lead and breaking wind for the others.
But every now and then, a breakaway is successful. Stage five of the Tour turned out to be one of those times. Six riders took off early in the race and got a lead of several minutes. The peloton was able to gobble up four of those riders, but the other two survived and finished the stage in first and second place.
Winning the stage was a frenchman, Thomas Voeckler (pictured), who rides for Bouygues Telecom. Finishing second was Mikhail Ignatiev of team Katusha. Mark Cavendish of team Columbia finished third, leading the peloton across the finish line. Voeckler and Ignatiev were not anywhere close to the race leaders, so the overall standings remained virtually unchanged.
Stage six will take the Tour to Spain, from Gerone to Barcelona. This stage will be a little harder, since it has three catagorey 4 climbs and two catagorey 3 climbs (the lower the number, the harder the climb). While the pelonton could finish together, it is likely that some riders will use the catagorey 3 climbs to attack.
It should be an exciting next few days as the Tour enters the mountains. The mountains are where the Tour's contenders are separated from the pretenders. Here are the current race leaders:
YELLOW JERSEY (OVERALL LEADERS)
1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)
2. Lance Armstrong (Astana)..........0.002
3. Alberto Contador (Astana)..........0.19
4. Andreas Kloden (Astana)..........0.23
5. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)..........0.31
6. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin)..........0.38
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Astana)..........0.51
8. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........0.52
9. David Zabriskie (Garmin)..........1.06
10. David Millar (Garmin)..........1.07
GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........96 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........70 pts
3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin)..........54 pts
4. Gerald Ciolek (Milram)..........42 pts
5. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues)..........41 pts
POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise)..........9 pts
2. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........6 pts
3. Anthony Geslin (Francaise)..........6 pts
4. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano)..........6 pts
5. Cyril Dessel (AG2R)..........5 pts
TEAM LEADERS
1. Astana
2. Saxo Bank..........2.33
3. Columbia..........2.45
4. Garmin..........3.05
5. Liquigas..........4.26
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