Stage Of Mixed Emotions: Pozzato Wins... 'Vino' Loses

The 182.5km fifth stage from Chablis to Autun began at 12.56pm. There were 185 riders in the race with Di Gregorio (FDJ) retiring overnight because of a broken elbow sustained in a crash during stage four. The itinerary had eight climbs including the first category-two ascent of the 2007 Tour. The mountains classification points were contested at Grandes-Chatenaines (cat-4 at 39.5km), Domecy-sur-Cure (cat-4 at 52.5km), Champignolless-le-Bas (cat-3 at 58.5km), Coulon (cat-4 at 86.5km), Saint-Maurice (cat-3 at 98.5km), Chateau-Chinon (cat-4 at 119km), Haut-Folin (cat-2 at 135.5km) and Croix de la Liberation (cat-3 at 174km). _ The intermediate sprints were in Avallon (at 36km), Montreuillon (at 94.5km) and Bibracte-Mont-Beuvray (at 145km). _ _ _ Chavanel: Racing Into Polka-Dot Top _ Sylvain Chavanel (COF) attacked at 13.5km mark and again at 19km, taking Bonnet (C.A) and Gilbert (FDJ) with him. They were chased by Cheula (BAR); at 24km the three led the Italian by 55” and the peloton by 1’45”. At the first sprint, the chase was 2’05” behind and the peloton at 8’40”. The average speed for the first hour was 38.7km/h. _ Chavanel claimed first place points at the first three climbs, with Gilbert second at each summit. Chavanel became the virtual leader of general classification. CSC’s director Kim Anderson said at the start of the stage that his team wouldn’t defend Cancellara’s yellow jersey. It meant that chasing responsibilities fell to other squads. The maximum gain of the escape was 14’45” at the 54km mark but then the Liquigas and Rabobank team’s took charge of the chase. By the top of the third climb, the advantage of the escapees dropped to 11’10”. After two hours of racing, the bunch was 9’25” behind. The average speed for the 2nd hour was 34.5km/h. The teams that led the peloton included: Astana, Milram, Discovery Channel and Gerolsteiner. Brett Lancaster abandoned at the 80km mark. At the site of the 2nd intermediate sprint, the bunch was 6’05” behind. _ _ Accidents, Attacks & Points Acquisition _ Andreas Kloden (AST) crashed at the 107km mark but he remounted his bike quickly and rejoined the peloton within a matter of minutes. The average speed for the third hour was 38.7km/h. With 5km to climb on the Haut-Folin ascent, Chavanel increased the pace. Gilbert responded but both Bonnet and Cheula were dropped. Chavanel again collected first place points. The leading duo was 1’10” ahead of the chasing pair and the peloton was at 2’10”. Rasmussen (RAB) led the peloton to the summit of the Haut-Folin to begin his collection of climbing points. Chavanel collected 30pts from the first seven climbs and will wear the polka-dot jersey in stage six. Zabel (MRM) and Sastre (CSC) punctured early on the descent but rejoined the peloton quickly. With 30km to go, the peloton was 1’50” behind. Gilbert gained 14” worth of bonuses at the three intermediate sprints; Hunter (BAR) chased 3rd place points at the 3rd sprint, leading the peloton to the line at the 145km mark, 1’55” behind Chavanel. _ Vinokourov crashed with 25km to go. He quickly remounted his bike but as he and six Astana team-mates chased, O’Grady and Vande Velde (CSC) went to the front of the peloton and upped the tempo. With 20km to go, escapees were 1’15” ahead of the peloton. Vinokourov was 1’00” behind the main pack. _ _ The Dramatic Finale _ Chavanel remained out front until the top of the final climb but was then swallowed up by a peloton that was controlled by Rabobank. Lefevre (BTL) was aggressive and an attack from him prompted Popovych (DSC) to follow. On the descent the Ukranian was joined by Cancellara but the two missed a left turn and ran off the road... but didn't crash. That was when Lampre took charge of the peloton but they didn't get the ultimate reward of the stage victory, that honor went to Filippo Pozzato of the Liquigas squad who outsprinted an elite field to claim his second Tour win. Zabel (MRM) finished fifth and moved into the lead of the points classification. _ Fabian Cancellara recovered from his near miss and was 12th in the stage, at the same time as Pozzato and will wear the yellow jersey for stage six.