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Alaphilippe loses yellow jersey after penalty on stage 5

September 2, 2020

French rider Julian Alaphilippe has lost the Tour de France lead after being hit with a penalty at the end of stage 5. Britain’s Adam Yates has now has the yellow jersey, with Belgian Wouth van Aert taking the stage win.

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Frankreich Tour de France 5. Etappe | Julian Alaphilippe im Gelben Trikot
Image: picture-alliance/Augenklick/Roth

Stage 5 of the 2020 Tour de France saw Jumbo-Visma make it two stage wins in two days as Belgian Wouth van Aert edged a fast sprint at the end of the 183km ride from Gap that featured no breakaway - an almost unprecedented scenario in normal racing conditions in the modern era.

However, the powerful Dutch outfit had their headlines stolen on when it was confirmed that Julian Alaphilippe was hit with a time penalty that cost him the leader's jersey. The French rider finished safe in the bunch but snatched a bottle about 17km from the line.

Tour rules state that feeding is illegal within 20km of the finish and as a result he was handed a 20-second penalty that sees Britain's Adam Yates take the Tour de France's leader's jersey.

"Nobody wants to take the jersey like this," the Mitchelton-Scott rider told the press. "I was on the bus and were about to leave for the hotel when I got a call. I asked Julian and he told me he had a time fine.”

Yates leads Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who stormed to victory on stage 4, by three seconds in the standings after Alaphilippe dropped to 16th overall.

"It was a really calm day and it got pretty nervous in the final,” Yates continued. "It's not the way I imagined taking the yellow jersey.”

The next stage: Thursday's sixth stage is a 191km middle-mountain trek from Le Teil to the Mont Aigoual. One for the climbers.