Stage 5

The road

At the start

Épernay to Montargis, no excuses

Nothing changed in Reims: Cancellara leads Geraint Thomas by twenty-three seconds and Evans by thirty-nine. Petacchi has two stages and Cavendish none, his first week spent on crashes, cobbles and other men's mistakes. Today is 185 kilometres written for the fast men — two fourth-category climbs out of Épernay and then flat all the way to Montargis, where Robbie McEwen won the last time the Tour came.

How it was won

1. 110 km to go

   Martin winds it up

   Ten kilometres out Tony Martin takes over for HTC-Columbia and drags the bunch onto the back of a three-man break that has been away since the sixth kilometre. It is the tenth day this team has done this.

2. 2At the line

   Cavendish, vindicated

   Renshaw swings off at 200 metres and this time Cavendish has the legs. Ciolek jumps at the same instant and is beaten for pure speed, Boasson Hagen comes third, and the Manxman crosses with his arms up and something like relief on his face.

The result