John Degenkolb sprinted to 6th on stage 5 of Le Tour de France, again behind another German, this time it was Andre Greipel who won the stage, as Tony Martin stays the overall leader.

Wet conditions and crosswinds during stage 5 of Le Tour, a stage of 189.5km on relatively flat roads from Arras to Amiens in Northern France. Two riders went to the early attack but not for long as one of them was called back by team orders.

Halfway the stage, an acceleration combined with crosswinds split the bunch and a large group of 70 riders was left behind.

25km from the finish a crash happened in the bunch and Georg Preidler was involved. Because of the slippery roads the damage wasn’t serious fortunately, as he continued the race.

In the finale the pace was high but steady on the wide roads to Amiens while the bunch sprint was prepared. For the second time this Tour Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was the strongest sprinter as John Degenkolb took 6th. Warren Barguil came in 25th and keeps his 11th place in the GC.

Koen de Kort said: “We were well grouped and positioned in the front in the final kilometers. At the moment we got the opportunity and space to move up we took it.

“Unfortunately, they passed us a little too quick while moving into the final kilometer and I lost John [Degenkolb]. I tried to find him by riding next to Renshaw, but that didn’t work out. At that time it’s better to not do a lead-out in the hope that he would find his own way and come from behind, but he was too far and took 6th.”

About his crash, Georg Preidler said: “I am ok and not hurt too bad. There was oil or something really slippery on the roads were the big crash happened and suddenly I was in the middle of it. It is really nervous in the Tour and I am not yet used to that. But so far so good and I am looking forward to the stages ahead of us.”

Coach Marc Reef reflected: “It was another hectic day because of the weather and the constant threat of crosswinds and crashes. We fought well for the front positions and when the bunch split all of our guys were in the first peloton, which was good.

“In the finale Georg [Preidler] crashed, Roy [Curvers] was caught up by a crash and Ramon [Sinkeldam] had to change his bike, so you can imagine that the sprint preparation wasn’t perfect because we haven’t got enough men.”