Having already lost time in Sheffield and London, Leopold König continued to lose ground to his GC rivals in the tough Tour de France stage on the cobbles. Nonetheless, Team NetApp-Endura is pleased with teh outcome of a day that could have been much more disastrous.

Today, the fifth stage took the Tour de France through the notorious cobblestone passages of northern France in driving rain. No fewer than seven cobblestone sections had to be tackled on the way from Ypres in Belgium to Arenberg. Lars Boom (Belkin) prevailed in a solo run over Jakob Fuglsang and the bearer of the yellow jersey, Vincenzo Nibali (both from Astana). Team NetApp – Endura’s strategy allowed captain Leo König to avoid losing too much time in his French cobblestone premiere.

"The weather conditions were unbelievable today, but the team executed the instructions we gave to the riders right from start. Our guys rode out in front on some sections to keep Leo in a good position. It all worked out very well. Naturally, with such a route, there are always situations where something breaks or someone crashes. We were not spared entirely, but got off lightly. Leo didn't lose much time, and that was our objective. Accordingly, we can be absolutely satisfied with today‘s stage," says Enrico Poitschke regarding the fifth stage.

Nine riders were able to break away from the field relatively quickly after the start. In tough weather conditions, the peloton did not let the riders in front get much of a lead. In addition, thanks to the NetApp – Endura team picking up the pace, the lead by the first cobblestone section was only about three minutes. Because of the high speed, but also due to many crashes on the rainy roads, the main field split at that time. Then, by the second sector, Nibali was able to break away from the other favorites, such as Alberto Contador (Tinkoff – Saxo), and continuously increase his lead right until the end. Of all things, the mechanical curse also hit Team NetApp – Endura in the decisive phase of the race. A technical problem pulled Leo König out of one of the front groups at the beginning of the final part of the race and prevented the 26 year-old Czech from achieving a better result. Christopher Froome made out even worse: Last year's winner was forced to leave the race after several crashes.

Tomorrow's sixth stage offers the peloton the opportunity to catch its breath after the initial stages. The rather flat section runs from Arras to Reims, and the 194 kilometers should be an opportunity for the sprinters to shine again.