Jai Hindley crossed the road alone to win stage 5 of the Tour de France on Wednesday to take the general chief’s yellow jersey as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard received a battle with Tadej Pogacar.
Hindley’s feat nevertheless was overshadowed by Vingegaard’s present of sophistication as the Dane pulled off a serious coup on the ultimate mountain to carve a 53-second benefit over Pogacar within the general standings.
The anticipated duel between the pair has been the principle deal with the Tour to date, however now Hindley, the 2022 Giro d’Italia winner, has stolen a few of that thunder.
After becoming a member of an early escape as the peloton left Pau, the gateway to the Pyrenees, at frantic velocity, Hindley finally shook off his breakaway rivals on the ultimate Col de Marie Blanque climb.
At the village of Laruns the 27-year-old raised his arms to the sky and completed 32 seconds forward of Giulio Ciccone and Felix Gall with Vingegaard fifth at 34sec.
“I’m here for the overall win and the aim was to put as much time as possible into the others,” stated Hindley. “It has been a dream since I was six years old but I never thought I’d find myself in the yellow jersey.”
“It was chaotic behind with different teams riding with various aims. I got the win and the lead so I’m delighted, it’s going to be a crazy bike race.”
Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma shocked the UAE when Wout Van Aert dropped again from an early break and led Vingegaard uphill with a powerful 500m pull.
Sepp Kuss then took the relay till he too peeled away earlier than Vingegaard broke free and put the hammer down over the remaining 15km to the end line.
Vingegaard expressed shock at how Pogacar struggled.
“On paper this didn’t look like it was going to be a good day for me, but on the last climb I knew I had the legs,” stated the defending champion. “I was surprised Pogacar didn’t manage to follow, even if I was doing it to test him.”
💪 A solo win for Jai Hindley + the Yellow Jersey! Relive final kilometer of Stage 5 👀
💛 Une victoire en costaud pour Jai Hindley qui en profite pour revêtir le Maillot Jaune ! Revivez le dernier kilomètre de l’étape 5 📹#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/1EhWYASzup
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 5, 2023
