Vincenzo Nibali's convincing performance on the cobbles of stage 5 between Ypres and Arenberg was the talk of the village on Thursday morning.

Yet nobody believed that the Sicilian, winner of the 2010 Vuelta and the 2013 Giro, had already won the Tour. 

"It's an entirely different Tour which starts from now," said Europcar team manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau.

"We had a first Tout that just finished , now we're starting anew. Nibali is a modern rider, an all-rounder, but it's not necessarily a Tour for versatile riders", he added.

"Everything will now depend on the strength of his team but if it's as strong as he is, he has taken a serious option."

Trek Factory team director Alain Gallopin has a slightly different view of the  Astana team leader: "Two years ago, we had a Tour for time trial specialists, last year we had a Tour for climbers, this year's is a Tour for an all-rounder like Nibali," he said.

"Nibali is clever, he saved strength for the Tour now he's in top shape on D Day," he added.

For BMC team director Yvon Ledanois, whose leader Tejay Van Garderen is now 2:11 behind the Italian, the Tour has only just started:

"Nibali was the best rider of the first five days of the Tour. You always have a rider who performs well in the first week, but the one who wins the Tour is the strongest in the third week," he said.

"Of course, Tejay or Contador lost two minutes but on this Tout, believe me, two minutes is nothing."