Stage 5: Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille, 228.5km, rolling

This stage could go any one of three ways: we could have a breakaway winner, a sprint finish or a crafty puncheur taking advantage of a tricky uncategorised climb 12.5km from the finish to steal the stage.

After a hard few days in Corsica and the team time trial yesterday, a lot of the guys will want to use this stage to have an easy day but if the sprinters look like they’re got a chance, the trains will start cranking up the pace to deliver their man. That said, there could be some echelon danger as Provence has strong, unpredictable winds in summer so teams need to stay alert – a GC contender would not want to be caught out if splits occur.

Might this be a stage win for the rainbow jersey if PhilGil can keep the sprinters at bay, will SuperSagan make one of his audacious moves and conquer Marseille or will the OPQS boys deliver Cavendish to the finish first? Or could we even see the yellow jersey of Simon Gerrans on a finish not unlike that of his win on stage three? If it is a bunch sprint, the finish is not the most straightforward, with a left-hand corner coming inside the final 500 metres.

Bit of trivia: Including today’s stage, Marseille has hosted 35 finishes in the Tour’s history.

Link: Official website

Header picture: Cagnes-sur-Mer