Tour De France - Stage 5 As It Happens

The current state of affairs ...

Bonjour. After about 73km and three climbs, Frederic Finot's prediction is proving accurate. A group of four riders, Sylvain Chavanel, William Bonnet, Philippe Gilbert and Gianpolo Cheula, have built a lead of 8min 45sec over the peloton. It's falling rapidly, however, as it was over 14 minutes at one point.


Today's stage

According to the expert view of Frederic Finot from the Roubaix Lille Metropole that was provided in the invaluable guide to the Tour de France that was given away free with the Guardian last week "this is not a very hard stage but there are a few hills. The Haut-Folin, a second-class climb, is the longest and steepest (about 10km long and with a tough gradient) of the day It is on a forestry road and you are nearly 900m up at the summit"

That's quite high, but low enough for a Fifa-sanctioned international football match.

"This climb bears similarities with the Mont Malgre Tout in the Cote du Criterium in the Ardennes," adds Monsieur Finot. "ONce at the top (less than 50km from the finish), we plunge quite quickly on to Autun, with a final hump at 8km to go. I can see a small group breaking away, since on such a terrain, with roads that do not respond, sprinting teams are going to have a hard time controlling the pack. This could be a tricky stage."

Overall standings

Yellow jersey: Fabian Cancellara (CSC)

Green jersey:Tom Boonen (QSI)

Polka dot jersey: Stephane Auge (COF)

White jersey: Vladimir Gusev (DSC)

Team standings: Astana.