Tour de France stage five predictions and best bets: Pogacar's time to shine

Free cycling tips, best bets and analysis for stage five of the 2021 Tour de France

Where to watch

ITV4 & Eurosport 1, 11.15am Wednesday

Stage four reaction and stage five preview

A new chapter in the renaissance of Mark Cavendish was opened on Tuesday as the Manx Missile rolled back the years to register a 31st Tour de France stage success.

Cavendish, who was selected for the race by Deceuninck Quick-Step only as a late replacement for Irish sprinter Sam Bennett, was a 6-1 chance to win stage four and is now only three stage victories shy of legend Eddy Merckx's all-time record of 34 wins at the Tour.

The 36-year-old is unlikely to add to his tally on Wednesday but the 27.2km individual time-trial could have a significant bearing on the destination of the yellow jersey.

Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic are already 28 seconds and 56 seconds adrift of defending champion Tadej Pogacar and will have been looking to stage five as a chance to use their expertise against the clock to put time into the Slovene, not claw back some of their deficit.

There is also the question of how both are feeling after their heavy crashes on Monday. Thomas suffered a dislocated shoulder during stage three, while Roglic was heavily bandaged on Tuesday following his crash.

In any case, Pogacar is a decent time-trialist in his own right as his remarkable victory on last year's penultimate stage showed and this could be his chance to solidify his status as favourite for the race. Backing Pogacar against each of his rivals in bet365's stage match-ups could be a sensible strategy.

The stage itself should be hotly contested, and Wout van Aert, who is the 2-1 favourite and could move into yellow with victory, and Swiss ace Stefan Bissegger the two to watch out for.

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