A break of 4 is quickly allowed to get away today, with no repeat of the usual start of aggression from many riders. Cornu, Rowe, Hulsmans and Bak are the 4.


Rowe takes the first sprint, from Hulsmans and Bak


And already the wind has claimed 3 casualties from the peloton, who will lose a lot of time: Van Zandbeek, Rodriguez Parra and 15th overall Schadlich


Theres certainly potential for more splits today, as with Stage 4, and Auber are pushing on, in aim of this


With the relaying riders setting a relentless pace, its a battle behind for teams to keep their leaders in touch. The string of riders down to just 1 by 1, even this close to the front


For the break of 4, the 2nd sprint was to split them. Bak takes it from Hulsmans, with Cornu dropped for having a weak sprint, while Rowe had already been struggling with the pace


And a split has occured! Led by Auber. Drujon, Ligthart and Rolland are with Ford. Tennant, Lang and Vinter also there.


But Cafe de Colombia, Vesuvio and Philips fight back, to close it down


Up front, Bak drops Hulsmans


And another split in the pack. 99 riders ahead, 57 behind


But while Auber are involved at the front, they also have cause to worry, with 3rd overall Reus sat right at the back of the 2nd group


This split comes together, only for a new one to appear. This time with 46 in front, 109 behind.


And on the front, the relay train is well organised, with B&O, Philips, Cafe de Colombia and Festina all involved. Not relaying, but also with some representation in the group, are Wikipedia, Vesuvio, Nespresso, Milka, Energie and Lafarge.


An indication of who has missed out comes from who is leading the chase - Carmeuse, Jack Wolfskin, Lafarge and Sony Ericsson


So high is the pace that the front group can not remain at this size, seen here are 16 riders being dropped


With 12km to go, Bak is caught by the leading group of 30. And those 30 are: Bouet, Morizot, Ford (Auber), Sagan, Reckweg, Jorgensen, Jorgensen, Vanoverschelde, Rasmussen (B&O), Kloden, Pinotti, Pereiro, Healion, Castaneda, Arango (Cafe de Colombia), Bernaudeau, Goddart, Bewley, Bileka (Festina), Cornu (Jack Wolfskin), Schreurs, Serebriakov, Reimer, Mouris, Pedersen, Scheunemann, Morkov (Philips), Hulsmans (Warner Bros) - and somehow, 2 control riders.


It could be a challenge now for the chasers to regain contact, and avoid any time loss


But this is looking great for the 4 sprinters in the front group. Serebriakov, Bewley, Vanoverschelde and Castaneda, each getting a leadout from Pedersen, Bileka, Rasmussen and Arango respectively


Philips are still ramping up the pace though, and the group is whittled down to 17: Reimer, Schreurs, Pedersen, Rasmussen, Bileka, Bouet, Goddaert, Vanoverschelde, Bewley, Serebriakov, Scheunemann, Arango, Pereiro, Ford, Castaneda, Mouris and Pinotti


The sprinters now take control. Rasmuseen, Bileka and Pedersen all battling for the best leadout position, with their sprinters lining up behind. The Colombian pair of Arango and Castaneda are lagging behind though


Look out for Auber tho, with Bouet bringing race leader Ford forwards


Behind these 17, all other riders have been brought together in one large group - and they are actually closing in on the leaders


Now to the sprint, and Reimer has taken an advantage


But Ford leads the response, and takes the lead


Behind them, Vanoverschelde is trying to fit through the not quite existant gap of Bileka/Bouet and Pedersen, but Castaneda is going strong now, despite his intitial positioning


And Serebriakov also makes his move, pulling out to the centre of the road


Castaneda is now closing in on Ford


He has been 3rd, 3rd and 2nd in the three sprints so far, and now finally, Castaneda takes a victory! What a race he is having


Ford is 2nd, the bonuses allowing him to keep the race lead from Castaneda. Serebriakov takes 3rd, then Bouet, Bileka, Reimer and Vanoverschelde

The sprint from the chasing peloton is led by Hushovd, Hoffman and Clerc, and they ensure that no gaps are gained.


So its the same time for the first 153 riders. But in 154th, losing 3 minutes, is 5th overall Rolland

1	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	Café de Colombia	3h13'06
2	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
3	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Philips - TDC	s.t.
4	Maxime Bouet	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
5	Vladimir Bileka	Festina - Corona	s.t.
6	Martin Reimer	Philips - TDC	s.t.
7	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Team B&O	s.t.
8	Martin Pedersen	Philips - TDC	s.t.
9	Alex Rasmussen	Team B&O	s.t.
10	Maurice Schreurs	Philips - TDC	s.t.
11	Sam Bewley	Festina - Corona	s.t.
12	Juan Esteban Arango	Café de Colombia	s.t.
13	Jens Mouris	Philips - TDC	s.t.
14	Óscar Pereiro Sio	Café de Colombia	s.t.
15	Niels Scheunemann	Philips - TDC	s.t.
16	Kristof Goddaert	Festina - Corona	s.t.
17	Thor Hushovd	Milka	s.t.
18	Aurélien Clerc	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
19	Nolan Hoffman	Team Nespresso	s.t.
20	Marco Pinotti	Café de Colombia	s.t.
21	Jérôme Baugnies	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
22	Roman Maksimov	Festina - Corona	s.t.
23	Hans Dekkers	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
24	Steven Caethoven	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
25	Enrico Franzoi	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
26	Kristof Vandewalle	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
27	Sergio Marinangeli	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
28	Francisco Javier Echarri	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
29	Aleksandr Mironov	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
30	Jurgen Roelandts	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
31	Michael Schär	Team Nespresso	s.t.
32	Adam Petrie-Armstrong	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
33	Jerome Coppel	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
34	Clément Lhotellerie	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
35	Jesus Tendero	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
36	Kai Reus	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
37	Claudio Corioni	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
38	Jukka Vastaranta	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
39	Aleksandr Efimkin	Milka	s.t.
40	Drasutis Stundzia	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
41	Rick Flens	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
42	Saulo Lay	Team Nespresso	s.t.
43	Rafael Rodríguez Segarra	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
44	Tony Martin	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
45	Gorik Gardeyn	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
46	Koldo Fernandez	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
47	Michael Van Stayen	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
48	Romain Vanderbiest	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
49	Alexandre Aulas	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
50	Ramunas Navardauskas	Festina - Corona	s.t.
51	Elia Viviani	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
52	Jason Donald	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
53	Jaime Suaza	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
54	Juraj Sagan	Team B&O	s.t.
55	Andreas Klöden	Café de Colombia	s.t.
56	Emanuele Rizza	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
57	Daniele Bennati	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
58	Jonas Aaen Jørgensen	Team B&O	s.t.
59	Baden Cooke	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
60	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	Milka	s.t.
61	Óscar Avelino	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
62	Ivano Lo Cicero	Team Nespresso	s.t.
63	William Walker	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
64	Florian Morizot	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
65	Koen De Kort	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
66	Patrick Gretsch	Festina - Corona	s.t.
67	Lars Ytting Bak	Philips - TDC	s.t.
68	Michael Mørkøv	Philips - TDC	s.t.
69	Mitch Docker	Lafarge	s.t.
70	Alex Dowsett	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
71	Roberto Traficante	Team Nespresso	s.t.
72	Oscar Freire	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
73	Danilo Wyss	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
74	Cameron Meyer	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
75	Mathieu Bernaudeau	Festina - Corona	s.t.
76	Sébastien Minard	Lafarge	s.t.
77	Wouter Weylandt	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
78	Tyler Farrar	Wikipedia	s.t.
79	Isaac Speirs	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
80	Adrian Laidler	Lafarge	s.t.
81	Mauro Da Dalto	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
82	Sven Nooytens	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
83	David Vitoria	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
84	Troels Vinter	Team B&O	s.t.
85	William Bonnet	Lafarge	s.t.
86	Morten Reckweg	Team B&O	s.t.
87	Paul Healion	Café de Colombia	s.t.
88	Eloy Teruel	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
89	Dimitri Champion	Lafarge	s.t.
90	Michael Vanderaerden	Milka	s.t.
91	Fabien Bacquet	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
92	Casper Jørgensen	Team B&O	s.t.
93	Rik Kavsek	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
94	Dmitri Muravjev	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
95	Jacob Fiedler	Team Nespresso	s.t.
96	Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn	Team 1	s.t.
97	Mauro Facci	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
98	Pedro Nicácio	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
99	Juan Pablo Forero	Milka	s.t.
100	Carlos Alberto Ospina	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
101	Marcel Kittel	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
102	Artjom Timofeev	Wikipedia	s.t.
103	Luigi Sestili	Lafarge	s.t.
104	Kim Michely	Team 1	s.t.
105	Marcel Barth	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
106	Sebastian Lang	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
107	Zdenek Stybar	Milka	s.t.
108	Denis Galimzyanov	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
109	Marcel Sieberg	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
110	Sebastian Batchelor	Team 1	s.t.
111	Benoît Vaugrenard	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
112	Matthew Crane	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
113	Leonardo Duque	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
114	Freddy Johansson	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
115	Nico Schinker	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
116	Jan Hopman	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
117	Danny Pate	Wikipedia	s.t.
118	Tom Veelers	Team B&O	s.t.
119	Saydou Sow	Team 1	s.t.
120	Sergei Kolesnikov	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
121	Jakub Danacik	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
122	Nick Clesen	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
123	Tom Leezer	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
124	Tom Criel	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
125	Björn Schröder	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
126	Gianluca Coletta	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
127	Michael Ford	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
128	Thomas De Gendt	Milka	s.t.
129	Davide Viganò	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
130	Diego Gallego	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
131	Dominique Cornu	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
132	Radomir Simunek	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
133	Viktor Renäng	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
134	Andrew Tennant	Café de Colombia	s.t.
135	Daniel Fleeman	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
136	Ben Gastauer	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
137	Christian Meier	Wikipedia	s.t.
138	Tanel Kangert	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
139	Martin Mortensen	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
140	Blake Caldwell	Wikipedia	s.t.
141	Ivan Kovalev	Wikipedia	s.t.
142	Dennis Van Winden	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
143	Hugues Mottin	Team Nespresso	s.t.
144	Serge Pauwels	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
145	Rudi Van Houts	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
146	Aggrey Sebright	Wikipedia	s.t.
147	Yoann Offredo	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
148	Alexis Castro Rodriguez	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
149	Ludovic Bret	Lafarge	s.t.
150	Joost Posthuma	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
151	Hernâni Broco	Team Nespresso	s.t.
152	Mathieu Drujon	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
153	Kevin Hulsmans	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
154	Pierre Rolland	Auber 93 - Look	+ 3'28
155	Matt Rowe	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
156	Adrien Niyonshuti	Team 1	+ 4'05
157	Jimmy Casper	Milka	+ 4'43
158	Tiago Pinto	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 5'19
159	Pim Ligthart	Auber 93 - Look	+ 5'41
160	Matteo Bono	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 6'17
161	William Germán Rodríguez Parra	Café de Colombia	+ 11'23
162	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Lafarge	s.t.
163	Lucas Schädlich	Festina - Corona	s.t.

GC

1	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	12h30'30
2	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	Café de Colombia	+ 7
3	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Team B&O	+ 27
4	Kai Reus	Auber 93 - Look	+ 30
5	Mathieu Drujon	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
6	Jerome Coppel	Auber 93 - Look	+ 34
7	Dmitri Muravjev	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
8	Jakub Danacik	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
9	Patrick Gretsch	Festina - Corona	+ 35
10	Florian Morizot	Auber 93 - Look	+ 36
11	Freddy Johansson	Sony Ericsson	+ 39
12	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Philips - TDC	+ 41
13	Marcel Kittel	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 42
14	Michael Van Stayen	Jack Wolfskin	+ 43
15	Kristof Goddaert	Festina - Corona	s.t.
16	Ramunas Navardauskas	Festina - Corona	s.t.
17	William Bonnet	Lafarge	s.t.
18	Ludovic Bret	Lafarge	s.t.
19	Sam Bewley	Festina - Corona	+ 44
20	Roberto Traficante	Team Nespresso	s.t.
21	Marcel Sieberg	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
22	Benoît Vaugrenard	Jack Wolfskin	+ 45
23	Danny Pate	Wikipedia	s.t.
24	Mathieu Bernaudeau	Festina - Corona	+ 46
25	Tyler Farrar	Wikipedia	+ 47
26	Nolan Hoffman	Team Nespresso	+ 48
27	Jacob Fiedler	Team Nespresso	s.t.
28	Jan Hopman	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
29	Maurice Schreurs	Philips - TDC	+ 49
30	Óscar Pereiro Sio	Café de Colombia	+ 51

Points

1	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	Café de Colombia	117
2	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Team B&O	103
3	Sam Bewley	Festina - Corona	73
4	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	65
5	Daniele Bennati	La Gazzetta dello Sport	55
6	Alex Rasmussen	Team B&O	54
7	Jurgen Roelandts	Carmeuse Cyclisme	52
8	Óscar Avelino	Lipton Ice Tea	49
9	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Philips - TDC	45
10	Juan Esteban Arango	Café de Colombia	43

Young Rider

1	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	12h30'30 (1)
2	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	Café de Colombia	+ 7 (2)
3	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Team B&O	+ 27 (3)
4	Jerome Coppel	Auber 93 - Look	+ 34 (4)
5	Jakub Danacik	Sony Ericsson	+ 34 (5)
6	Patrick Gretsch	Festina - Corona	+ 35 (6)
7	Freddy Johansson	Sony Ericsson	+ 39 (7)
8	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Philips - TDC	+ 41 (8)
9	Marcel Kittel	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 42 (9)
10	Michael Van Stayen	Jack Wolfskin	+ 43 (10)

Team

1	Auber 93 - Look	37h04'25 (1)
2	Sony Ericsson	+ 3 (2)
3	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 11 (3)
4	Jack Wolfskin	+ 12 (4)
5	Festina - Corona	+ 12 (5)