Tour de France – Stage 5 – Jarlinson Pantano – I helped and protected Mathias Frank until the 3 km banner, and then I mingled with the sprinters to try my luck –

Everyday offers its own punishment at the 2015 Tour de France, which is something that even the heroes of the road can’t contradict.  Once again, the elements have wreaked havoc in the pack.  The wind, rain, and treacherous roads sent many riders to the pavement and even a few to the infirmary.  That did not stop André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) from proving his power in the final dash to the line, out-scorching the efforts of Sagan, Cavendish and Kristoff. Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) was surrounded by his teammates and succeeded in defending his yellow jersey. 

For its part, IAM Cycling had its share of bad luck with Sylvain Chavanel, Matthias Brändle, Jarlinson Pantano, and Jérôme Coppel all suffering crashes, though none of them were badly hurt.  Happily, Mathias Frank stayed on his bike and finished in the group with the favorites, and now can look forward to the next difficult stage into Le Havre.

Acting as the perfect teammate, Jarlinson Pantano also managed to grab himself 14^th place in the mass sprint; he was all smiles at the end of the day before preparing to return to the hotel.  “We had to stay alert the entire day.  The roads were very slippery, and the wind prompted some teams to try to cause breaks in the group.  I crashed once with a lot of other guys about 25 kilometers from the line.  I got up without any trouble.  So I was able to help and protect Mathias Frank until we reached the 3 kilometer banner.  At that point I decided to mingle a little with the sprinters and take my chances.  I have a good feeling, and I hope that I will continue to feel this good.”

Rik Verbrugghe, the manager sportif who is ably assisted by Eddy Seigneur and Mario Chiesa, the directeurs sportifs, was pleased with how the day unfolded for his team.  “We protected Mathias’ place within the group of favorites, and that was our goal from the start especially as we knew what the conditions on the course would be like.  It really took a lot of concentration to prevent being caught out by crashes and echelons.  From the time that the selection was made, we continued to close ranks around our leader.  The nervousness of the peloton was ever-present, and that will not change before the first rest day on Monday.  Tomorrow there will not be a flat meter of road, and there will still be risks of echelons and splits.  We will have to redouble our efforts so that we aren’t stupidly losing time and places on the general classification.”