<\/a><\/p>\n The race goes into the Alps with the first of three summit finishes.<\/p>\n Un Flamand au Parc des Oiseaux<\/strong>: the sprint win for Wout van Aert. Visma-LAB and Cofidis led the chase all stage when a move of six got way on the first climbs and never gave them much more than two minutes. In the final stages more teams joined in and the break was finished.<\/p>\n The finishing straight was three kilometres long and felt almost as wide until the finish came into sight. Helped by lead-out from Matteo Jorgenson and then a 600m turn from Edoardo Affini, Van Aert launched with 200m to go and held off Hugo Hofstetter and Phil Bauhaus. For a rider saying he\u2019s searching for form there might be some way to go but all the same this was a solid long sprint. For all his talk of poor form right now he\u2019s now got two stage wins to his name and was second on Stage 4 too.<\/p>\n The Route<\/strong>: 181km, 2,850m of vertical gain and a day of d\u00e9ja-vu. The start is in Saint-Vulbas, home of Mark Cavendish\u2019s final Tour stage win in 2024 although today in the town itself rather than outside by the logistics park that hosted the finish last time.<\/p>\n The mid-stage climb of the Col du Granier sees the race traverse the Chartreuse Alps via a scenic road with steep cliffs and balcony sections cut into the hillside; and where Bernard Hinault once stopped to pee<\/a>. More importantly today it\u2019s got a lot of 6-7% gradients. The descent is steep and twisty, but used by the race recently in 2024. There\u2019s a long valley road via Albertville to Ugine, Alex Baudin\u2019s home roads as it happens.<\/p>\n The climb to H\u00e9ry sounds gentle with the 5% average on the profile but it\u2019s 7% most of the way, the average is reduced because of a descent mid-way so this is a selective climb, and all on a small, twisting road including on the way down. The Tour de France was supposed to come here last year but a last-minute change because of a bovine disease and angry farmers prompted a change.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/1c58466db9d4c5dd157efe0f7dded30d\/3711b0a9a5cd948e-e9\/s2048x3072\/012e9e09c58c65f047001333dd08cce2468454ba.jpg\")
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