Etixx - Quick-Step rider Tony Martin will wear the yellow jersey as race leader for another day, thanks to staying safe and in front of the 189.5km Le Tour de France Stage 5 on Wednesday. The stage ended in the predicted bunch sprint despite rain and crosswinds before the final kilometers.

Mark Cavendish finished 3rd behind stage winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), and 2nd place finisher Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo). 

Etixx - Quick-Step successfully kept Martin protected, with UCI World Road Champion Michal Kwiatkowski constantly guiding the German rider in the peloton. Cavendish was also supported well, including being paced back by three teammates to the peloton with 63.3km to go after a mechanical.

Matteo Trentin was involved in a crash, but finished the stage.

The pace of the peloton slowed down inside the final 30km after plenty of accelerations due to the winds, as well as crashes. Nacer bouhanni (Cofidis) was among the riders who crashed and was forced to abandon.

Etixx - Quick-Step riders Rigoberto Uran and Zdenek Stybar remain in 7th and 10th overall, respectively. 

Etixx Quick-Step looks next to 191.5km 6th Stage, from Abbeville to Le Havre, on Wednesday. The stage goes along the windy coast of Normandy. The parcours is undulating with three Category 4 ascents, and there is a small uphill going into the finish.

"I couldn't sleep so well last night," Martin said. "I fell asleep maybe at 2 o'clock in the morning and woke up early again, But it was OK for me. I woke up feeling well, thinking directly about the yellow jersey. It gave me a lot of power and morale today in the race. I hope I can find more sleep in the next nights, or else I won't see Paris (laughs).

"As for the race, I tried to do my job for Cav in the finale. I wanted to lead him until the last kilometer and a half, and stay safe for yellow. I don't know what happened with the sprint after that. I did my job for Cav as well as I could and didn't take any risks.

"I think the team did well today going into the sprint. We avoided crashes and were always in good position. The race was super stressful. A lot of nervousness, crashing, and fighting for position. I couldn't really enjoy the day as I didn't have time to think about being in yellow. In the end of this kind of stage we were lucky to stay upright. It wasn't really a day for celebration.

"To be honest I remained concentrated on the race. With the rain, the wind and the crashes I had not time to celebrate or enjoy it. It might be the same again tomorrow. Hopefully will come a stage when the race calms down a little bit.

"We will see about the next days. We have some very good riders that can be active in different kinds of stages. With our team you never know what we can do in the next days and weeks.

"I just want to keep yellow as long as possible, but I am also realistic that when the big mountains come I probably cannot stay with the best riders. Especially since I didn't train for those kinds of stages.. My goal is to stay in yellow until the TTT, not the big mountains.

"My ambition now is to keep the jersey as long as possible. I'm convinced that I can normally keep it until the first rest day. Another goal was be to be able to help Mark (Cavendish) win a stage."