Team UAE holds narrow lead against Team Qatar in thrilling Men’s Championship showdown at Ajman’s Al Zorah Golf & Yacht Club
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Australian Jai Hindley crossed the line alone to win stage five of the Tour de France on Wednesday to take the overall leader's yellow jersey as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard won a tactical battle with key rival Tadej Pogacar.
Hindley leads Vingegaard with the Dane pulling off a major coup on the final mountain and now has a 53-second advantage on Pogacar in the overall standings, which took a major shake up.
Bora-Hansgrohe rider Hindley, the 2022 Giro d'Italia winner, shook off his rivals on the Col de Marie-Blanc to break clear in the yellow jersey standings.
The 27-year-old finished 32 seconds ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone and Austrian Felix Gall with Vingegaard fifth at 34sec.
“I was sort of improvising out there and enjoying bike racing and I just managed to find myself in that group,” said Hindley, who is making his Tour debut. “I enjoyed it out there today. It's really incredible. I have no words – I really have no words.”
Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma stunned the UAE Team when Wout Van Aert dropped back from an early break and led Vingegaard uphill with an impressive 500m pull.
Jumbo climber Sepp Kuss then took the relay until he too peeled away before Vingegaard broke free and put the hammer down over the remaining 15km to the finiah line.
Meanwhile UAE Team rider Pogacar, the 2020 and 2021 champion, was left isolated as overnight leader Adam Yates appeared unable to help in the chase.
On a day to forget for UAE Team Emirates, Yates conceded the yellow jersey to Hindley and dropped to fifth place on the new-look GC, one place ahead of Pogacar, who saw his 11-second lead over Vingegaard morph into a deficit of 53 seconds.
Vingegaard laid down an early marker on the Tour with a brutal attack that left his main rival Pogacar gasping for air in the first mountain stage.
Denmark's Vingegaard accelerated some two kilometres from the top of the last climb, the lung-busting ascent to the Col de Marie Blanque (7.7km at 8.6%), to take one minute and four seconds off the twice Tour winner.
“We didn’t think this was the perfect stage for me, but, yeah, then when they started riding on the last climb, I had the feeling I had good legs,” Vingegaard said. “I said to Sepp that maybe he goes on the front. He did and I decided to attack as well.
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“I wanted to test him a bit. And my legs were good and I’m super happy with where I am. I’m super happy with taking a minute, that’s a good time gain for me.”
Thursday's sixth stage is an another mountain ride over 144.9km between Tarbes and Cauterets featuring punishing climbs up the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet.
Team UAE holds narrow lead against Team Qatar in thrilling Men’s Championship showdown at Ajman’s Al Zorah Golf & Yacht Club
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