Tour de France 2015: Full Standings and Highlights After Stage 5 Results

Andre Greipel continued his sprinting dominance on Wednesday, winning Stage 5 of the 2015 Tour de France in a hectic sprint to increase his lead in the points classification. The German finished great preparation work from his Lotto-Soudal team-mates, who launched him for the line at the perfect time.

Peter Sagan finished in second place, just ahead of Mark Cavendish. Tony Martin remains the leader in the general classification. Here are the results from Stage 5:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal	4:39:00
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	Same Time
3	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	Same Time
4	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha	Same Time
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka	Same Time
6	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	Same Time
7	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr	Same Time
8	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	Same Time
9	Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida	Same Time
10	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	Same Time

Stage 5 had bunch sprint written all over it, and following a hectic and dramatic start to this year's Tour, the flat profile of Wednesday's stage was a welcome sight for the peloton.

Fans and riders thinking they were safe from drama were sorely mistaken, however. Several crashes marred the first 50 kilometres, and one of those crashes claimed another big victim. Nacer Bouhanni, the young sprinter who had been kept quiet throughout the first few days, was forced to abandon this year's Tour.

Compatriot and fellow sprinter Bryan Coquard also hit the asphalt early, and while he was able to continue, the Press Association's Matt McGeehan started liking Cavendish's chances of winning his first stage more and more:

Jack Bauer followed Bouhanni out of the Tour, crashing twice before being taken to the hospital, per Cannondale-Garmin's official Twitter account.

Pierre-Luc Perichon spent hours battling the peloton on his own but was caught with 65 kilometres left to go, and anticipating a mass sprint, the pack increased the tempo.

Greipel, who finished the intermediate sprint in second place to increase his lead in the point standings, suddenly found himself 50 seconds behind the main group, but with the help from Bauke Mollema, he managed to bridge the gap in a hurry.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Nairo Quintana was also forced to make up time on the peloton, switching bikes twice due to mechanical failure.

As the pace increased, the peloton started to break up. The winding roads of northern France are as exposed as it gets, and the wind took its toll on the riders near the back of the group, who simply couldn't keep up.

Via the Tour's official Twitter account, the peloton soon split in half, and while the gap between both groups seemed minimal, it quickly grew:

With 25 kilometres left to ride, the odds of a bunch sprint continued to grow. The second peloton kept losing time, and with all of the top favourites for the yellow safely at the front, no one tried to block the pace.

In keeping with this year's Tour, another massive crash decimated the pack, but fortunately for the favourites, the incident occurred at the back of the group. The Tour's Twitter account shared this image of the carnage:

Thibaut Pinot was the biggest rider to suffer from the crash, but after his struggles on the Mur de Huy, it was already clear the Frenchman wouldn't be a factor for the yellow. The peloton refused to take advantage of the crash, however, slowing their pace to allow their fallen colleagues to return.

Once that happened, the finale kicked off. The sprint teams pushed the peloton to its very limit, and combined with a significant headwind, it was impossible for any solitary rider to break. Trains were formed, with Lotto-Soudal and Giant taking the lead inside the final kilometre. 

Alexander Kristoff launched his jump too soon, and while Cavendish appeared to be in position to win initially, Greipel came out of his wheel in time to pass the Brit. Sagan came close to winning himself and was seen banging his bike into the road after the stage.

As reported by Sky Sports' live blog, Greipel once again praised his team-mates for their excellent work in preparation of the sprint, singling out Tony Gallopin: "I've very happy to have achieved so many victories in my career at the Tour de France. It's just a shame I can't stand up there with the whole team on the podium because, once again, Tony Gallopin was absolutely fantastic. He was so, so strong."

Here's a look at the current standings, as Greipel continues to increase his lead in points:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step	17:19:26
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	+12
3	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:25	+25
4	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	+33
5	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	+38
6	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:40	+40
7	Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:46	+46
8	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	+48
9	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	+1:15
10	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step	+1:16

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	151
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	119
3	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	89
4	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	86
5	Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step	60
6	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	55
7	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	42
8	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	40
9	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka	33
10	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	30

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	2
2	Michael Schar (Swi) BMC Racing Team	1
3	Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo	1
4	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	1
5	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	1

Thursday's stage toward Le Havre will be ridden along the winding, beautiful roads of Normandy, and while the profile looks slightly more varied, another bunch sprint is likely. The winds coming from the coast should make life hard on small groups, and don't be shocked if the peloton splits again.

The final straight in Le Havre will be moving slightly uphill, so the pure power finishers will have the advantage. Greipel will be a strong candidate to win his third stage of this year's Tour, and given the slight rise in the road, Sagan should also be among the favourites. 

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