Cobblestone racing, crashes, and a photo finish made for an exciting day in the Tour de France, though Team Jumbo-Visma may not agree. Wout van Aert crashed but then rode with gritty determination to hold on to the yellow jersey. Simon Clarke won an amazing sprint against Taco van her Hoorn to take the stage. Check out the photo I took.
What also made today's stage exciting was the blistering pace set by the riders. They were practically flying, even on some of the cobblestone sections. This is the stage I wrote about yesterday when wondering when the ultra-fast stage would be.
- Stage 5: 3h 13' 55" (actual), 3h 31' 36" (prediction), 18' 01" slow (9.31% error)
After four wonderful predictions to start this year's Tour de France, we have our first terrible prediction. Check out Clarke's average speed.
- Stage 5: 13.52 m/s (48.66 kph or 30.24 mph)
How fast is that average speed? It's 1.66 kph (1.03 mph) faster than the Tour de France website's estimated top time schedule speed, and it's just 3.12 kph (1.94 mph) slower than Stage 1's individual time trial, which was only 8.4% the length of today's stage. It seems that every summer there is a Tour de France stage that blows me away with high speeds, and that stage this year is Stage 5.
Tomorrow's Stage 6 begins in the Belgian city of Binche, just across the border from France. At 219.9 km (136.6 mi), the hilly stage is this year's longest. Cyclists will ride southeast to the French commune of Longwy, not too far from where Belgium, France, and Luxemburg meet. Our prediction is given below.
- Stage 6: 5h 06' 53" (prediction)
I hope we can get back on track tomorrow. I don't think we can do any worse than we did today!
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