The already infamous fifth stage of the Tour de France 101st edition, including the pave sectors well known from the Paris-Roubaix, is considered one of those where the race could be irrevocably lost and thus GC contenders in likes of Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) or Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) took their time last several weeks to inspect the tricky cobbles. The constantly expanding group was joined by Bauke Mollema yesterday, and the Belkin leader hasn’t exactly enjoyed his ride even though he shared a highly professional “selfie” from Arenberg forest on his facebook profile.

Mollema, who claimed not to look forward to an unpredictable fifth stage of this year’s Tour, expects a fierce battle for position before the first out of nine pave sectors and hopes to wisely use the experience of renowned cobbled specialists riding in the Belkin outfit – Lars Boom and Sep Vanmarcke, to safely reach the finish line in Arenberg without unpleasant experiences.

“It’s not really my hobby, those cobblestones. Even though I rode them pretty well as an amateur,” Mollema told NOS.

“It would be nice if they could lead me through the cobbles later [this year],” the Belkin captain said about Vanmarcke and Boom.