The opportunity was there, so Clément Russo took it. On what was a very calm stage 5 of the Tour de France, the Frenchman decided to liven up the race at the front. For more than a hundred kilometres, he led the way together with Mattéo Vercher not far away from his homelands. His attempt wasn’t obviously made to upset the sprinters, and Mark Cavendish eventually claimed victory in Saint-Vulbas, also setting the new record for stage victories on the Tour. Clément Russo also made it to the podium as he won the combativity prize.
After a quick trip through the Alps, the sprinters were back in command this Wednesday on the Tour de France, with a fifth stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. No real climbs were on the day’s menu, the fast men were ready for another fight, and the start to the stage proved similar to Monday’s one. The pack set a very easy pace, some riders even took advantage of it to make some jokes, and no one seemed willing to engage in a breakaway attempt. It was then Clément Russo, after almost thirty kilometres of general apathy, who decided to bring a bit of action. A few minutes later, Mattéo Vercher joined him in the lead. “It wasn’t necessarily planned,” Clément said, “but I was close to home, and I grew up fifteen kilometres from the finish city. I was on home soil, the opportunity was there, and I went up front, thinking that maybe it would motivate others to follow. In the end, there were just the two of us, but I felt that he was motivated too.”
“We had to bring some life to the Tour”, Clément Russo
The peloton let the gap increase to four minutes, which doesn’t mean the duo’s attempt became realistic. “The rain and the intermediate sprint made the peloton more nervous,” added Clément. “So we were caught quite far from the finish, but we still had fun in front and it was a good day. It’s always nice to open the way on the Tour. It’s obviously nicer if you win at the end but we knew it was going to be hard today. We still had to bring some life to the Tour.” Clément Russo and his breakaway companion were then reeled in on the last classified climb of the day, with more than thirty kilometres to go. The sprinters teams then gradually set up, and in Saint-Vulbas, Mark Cavendish wrote history by becoming the lone record holder for victories on the Tour. Clément Russo also had the opportunity to climb onto the official podium to receive the prize for the most combative rider. “It’s the most beautiful race in the world, so getting on the podium is always nice,” he said. “Besides that, it was my mom’s birthday. I managed to bring back a bouquet, she will be happy.”
The rest of the team avoided crashes in the final as another sprint is predicted on Thursday. “There was no point in taking risks,” said Benoît. “We just had to make it home safely, which was done, and Clément got a small personal reward. Tomorrow, it will be a bit similar except that it may be more nervous since it could be windy towards Dijon. As for us, we are already focused on Friday’s time trial with Stefan and the dirty roads stage on Sunday.”
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