Tour's 5th Stage Goes To The Sprinters

The fifth stage of the Tour de France turned out to be a sprinter's delight. Several riders broke away from the group and got over 10 minutes ahead, before the Peleton swallowed them up and set up the sprinters for the finish. In the finishing sprint, Oscar Freire [Spain] got the stage win. Tom Boonen [Belgium] finished second, and Inaki Isasi [Spain] finished third. The individual standings after the 5th stage are:

1. Boonen [Belgium]
2. Rogers [Australia]..........13 seconds behind
3. Freire [Spain]..........17 seconds behind
4. Hincapie [USA-Discovery]..........17 seconds behind
5. Hushovd [Norway]..........19 seconds behind
6. McEwen [Australia]..........24 seconds behind
7. Savoldelli [Italy-Discovery]..........27 seconds behind
8. Landis [USA]..........28 seconds behind
9. Karpets [Russia]..........29 seconds behind
10. Honchar [Ukraine]..........29 seconds behind
11. Kessler [Germany]..........29 seconds behind

16. Zabriskie [USA]..........35 seconds behind
20. Julich [USA]..........37 seconds behind
22. Popovych [Ukraine-Discovery]..........39 seconds behind
23. Vandevelde [USA]..........40 seconds behind
25. Leipheimer [USA]..........40 seconds behind
27. Azevedo [Portugal-Discovery]..........43 seconds behind
46. Rubiera [Spain-Discovery]..........57 seconds behind
55. Gonzalez [Spain-Discovery]..........61 seconds behind
66. Padrnos [Czech-Discovery]..........69 seconds behind
88. Martinez [Spain-Discovery]..........99 seconds behind

America's Discovery team is still leading in the team standings:

1. Discovery
2. CSC..........1 second behind
3. T-mobile..........2 seconds behind
4. Balears..........7 seconds behind
5. Gerolsteiner..........14 seconds behind

Stage 6 is a 189 kilometer ride from Lisieux to Vitre. It has one catagory three climb and three catagory five climbs. This translates into a fairly flat 118 mile ride.