JAI HINDLEY won stage five of the Tour de France in Laruns today to take the yellow jersey from Adam Yates and Jonas Vingegaard rode clear of rival Tadej Pogacar as an early trip to the Pyrenees ripped up the general classification.

Hindley, winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia, marked himself out as a major contender with a breakaway victory but surely more important was the sight of defending champion Vingegaard leaving behind two-time winner Pogacar on the final climb to make his case as the favourite to be in yellow come Paris.

Hindley may be making his Tour de France debut, but given he has twice stood on the podium of the Giro it was a huge surprise to see how easily he got into the break.