00:00After Jonas Wiengegaard survived the chaos yesterday to take the stage honours and the race lead,
00:06it's on to stage five of Paris-Nice, with the sun making a very welcome return this morning.
00:12The day in Leeds' Danny Martinez by 52 seconds and third place Georg Steinhauser by over three minutes,
00:18but that doesn't mean that he is planning to take his foot off the gas.
00:23And now, as you say, I'm in the lead with 52 seconds, so I don't need to, yeah, to attack,
00:30but of course, I mean, if I have the legs, I would also, yeah, then it's nice to win another
00:36stage as well.
00:38Steinhauser did a fine job yesterday, finishing just behind the front group to vault his way onto the overall podium.
00:44The 24-year-old also has the white jersey as the race's best young rider,
00:49but Kevin Vokula is only 19 seconds further back. Game on.
00:56There's still a lot of strong guys behind. I mean, Kevin Vokula, we all know he's very strong and he's
01:02not far behind.
01:05But, yeah, I'm going to give it my all and see how long and how much I can defend it.
01:12Well, Vokula said he was pushed off the road yesterday just as it all kicked off in the crosswinds
01:17and that's why he missed the early splits.
01:19The Frenchman, not happy, but he still has plenty to play for in the coming days.
01:27Today is a good stage to attack and try to make something happen, so we'll give it a go.
01:32I just hope I've got good legs.
01:34After a day like yesterday, you never know how the legs are going to react.
01:38But we're here to fight and I'll keep fighting until Nice.
01:43At just over 200 kilometers, Stage 5 is the longest of this Paris-Nice
01:47and also boasts the highest elevation gain, just under 3,000 meters.
01:52The peloton are therefore in for another tough outing, although the weather has improved.
01:56The final is particularly punchy with a couple of short, steep climbs
02:00and an uphill kick to the finish line in Colombier-le-Vieux.
02:06Well, despite yesterday being one of the toughest days of the season so far,
02:10there was another high-octane start.
02:12And it took over 70 kilometers for a breakaway to form, with eight men going up the road.
02:18Alexander Vlasov, Josh Tarling, Remy Cavagna, Jefferson Cepeda and Nicola Prodom
02:24sparked the move and they were joined by Victor Campenartz, Ivan Romeo and Lorenzo Melesi.
02:29No fewer than three Movistar riders then, with Cepeda, Romeo and Melesi.
02:36Well, meanwhile, Vingegaard's Visma-Lisabite team were pacing the peloton,
02:40keeping the gap steady at just under two minutes.
02:46The eight leaders were soon approaching the intermediate sprint in Saras,
02:50with Romeo picking up the maximum six bonus seconds ahead of Melesi and Vlasov.
02:56Well, then it was straight on to the Cote de Secheras, which kicked off a rollercoaster final.
03:01It would be up and down between now and the finish line.
03:06Well, the break's starting to split on this Cat 2 climb,
03:09with Melesi going backwards as his teammate Cepeda went forwards.
03:13The Ecuadorian opening a small gap on his fellow escapees, but the peloton was now closing fast.
03:19Cepeda going over the summit with Vlasov and Prodom in pursuit.
03:23Everybody else, though, was being swept up by the peloton, which was soon down to a group of GC favourites.
03:29Vingegaard's teammates, Bruno Amurai, doing some serious damage in particular.
03:34Well, still 25 kilometres and some tricky climbs to come,
03:37and it was looking highly unlikely that Cepeda would be able to hold on.
03:43Next up was the Cote de Saint-Jean de Musole, 2.2 kilometres, at a punishing 11 per cent.
03:49A real stinger, this one, and it would spell the end for Cepeda.
03:53After his win yesterday, Vingegaard was clearly hungry for more.
03:57And after a big final turn from Campenarts, and with Danny Martinez already struggling,
04:03the Danes set off in search of glory.
04:08And here goes Jonas Vingegaard.
04:10Jonas Vingegaard and Visma Lisa-Bike have set today up perfectly.
04:14He wanted, if the chance came around, to try and go for a second stage victory,
04:18and on the steep gradients, look at Lenny Martinez dance on the pedals
04:23to try and come back to the wheel of Jonas Vingegaard, the two-time Tour de France champion.
04:28Kevin Vauquelin is looking laboured.
04:31He can't react, nor can Harold Tejada.
04:34Victor Campenarts comes to an absolute stop, and he can barely get himself going.
04:39Well, Vingegaard flying away and leaving everybody else scrambling in his wake.
04:43Lenny Martinez was next on the road,
04:45with Vauquelin, Valentin Paripantra, and Harold Tejada not far behind.
04:50Vingegaard in no mood to hang around as he continued to increase the gap,
04:54with the chase groups coming together.
04:56Martinez, Vauquelin, Paripantra, and Tejada,
04:58joined by Danny Martinez, Steinhauser, and Mathis Rondel,
05:02to make it a group of seven now, behind the irrepressible race leader.
05:07Vingegaard embarking on the final climb of the day,
05:10the Côte de Saint-Barthéle-Mille-Plain,
05:11and by now he was already the virtual king of the mountains,
05:14and heading for another victory.
05:17The chasers not thinking so much about catching him,
05:20but about their own battle for the remaining podium spots.
05:23The Visma Lisa bike man over a minute and a half clear as he approached the summit,
05:28while Paripantra, winner on the Mont Ventoux at last year's Tour de France,
05:32got a small gap on the other chasers.
05:40Vingegaard cruising away to another victory,
05:43with Paripantra now looking good for second place.
05:48Meanwhile, other riders who had been dropped,
05:50like Yonis Iguire, Marc Soler, Alex Buda, and Oscar Onley,
05:54made it back to the chase group.
05:55There was no David Godu, though, who started fifth this morning.
05:58He had to abandon during the stage.
06:02Vingegaard preparing to go back-to-back in the Ardèche sunshine.
06:10A day of teamwork.
06:12The fans bang the hoardings.
06:15A day of belief.
06:17A day where he knew he could do it.
06:20He kisses the handlebars with the picture of his wife and his two children.
06:25Yonis Vingegaard goes back-to-back, and he wins in the yellow jersey.
06:28The trendsetter believed he could do it,
06:32and he's now won stage five back-to-back stages
06:36in a wonderful performance, a sensational performance.
06:42Two days, two wins.
06:44Another demonstration from Yonis Vingegaard,
06:46who's in a league of his own at this Paris-Nice.
06:48The 29-year-old powering away from his rivals
06:51to increase his stranglehold on the race,
06:53and no doubt boosting his confidence
06:55as he builds towards a first Giro d'Italia in May.
07:04For sure it's not over.
07:06There's still three stages left, I think,
07:10where a lot of things can happen,
07:11and we just have to keep the focus until Yonis.
07:17Career-win number 44 for the Dane,
07:19who finished over two minutes clear of Paris-Pintre.
07:21Tejada led in the rest,
07:23with Dani Martinez, Vaucelin,
07:24and Steinhauser all finishing on the same time.
07:29Well, the race is Vingegaard's to lose.
07:32With three stages to go,
07:33he leads Martinez by three minutes and 22 seconds,
07:36with third place Steinhauser at nearly six minutes.
07:41Luke Lamperty still leads the green jersey standings,
07:45but Vingegaard is on a charge.
07:46He trails the American by just five points.
07:50And the Dane has nicked the polka dot jersey
07:52from his compatriot Caspar Pedersen
07:54after taking 15 points on the last two climbs.
07:58Steinhauser promised to defend the white jersey
08:00and did just that,
08:02finishing in the same group as Vaucelin.
08:04He remains the best young rider by 19 seconds.
08:07Well, there's another punchy stage to come tomorrow,
08:10and given the gaps overall,
08:11the breakaway may fancy their chances.
08:13Join us for that on Friday,
08:15and thanks for watching.
