Belgian Remco Evenepoel lived up to his favourite’s tag in the individual time trial by winning stage five of the Tour de France on Wednesday, with defending champion Tadej Pogacar’s second place enough to take hold of the leader’s yellow jersey.

Remco Evenepoel lives up to his favourite's tag in the individual time trial by winning stage five of the Tour de France as defending champion Tadej Pogačar's tops the general classification.

A three-week Grand Tour will always contain natural ebbs and flows, and, for much of Monday’s stage between Valenciennes and Dunkirk, it looked as if the peloton had declared an unofficial rest day, with the riders happy to cruise back towards the coast after a weekend of wind, rain and intensity.

Remco Evenepoel took an early blow to his GC hopes on the opening stage of the 2025 Tour de France, losing vital time on his rivals after crosswinds split the bunch on the run-in to Lille. The Soudal-QuickSte p leader was on the wrong side of a split with 17km remaining, as a group of approximately 35 riders surged on up the road.

A star-studded peloton are set for a three-week battle royale over lumps, bumps and mountains as the Tour de France gets underway. This year’s Grand Depart is held in Lille in northern France with stage one beginning and ending in the city near the border with Belgium.

Tour de France riders worry about crashes during the tense opening week of the race, Belgium's Remco Evenepoel said on Thursday.