Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Stage 5 of the Tour de France 2024 is 177.4km from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas.
Today sees the race leave the Alps via Chambéry and head up the Rhône valley. The last categorised climb, the Côte de Lhuis, comes 34km before the finish line.
The wide roads that follow it should enable the sprinters' teams to control any breakaway, so nothing should prevent a bunch sprint in Saint-Vulbas.
These are video highlights of Stage 5 Tour de France 2024.
This is the Stage 5 blog/race report.
Race Details | Poll | Map & Profile | Timings | Videos | Food & Drink | Route Notes | Favourites
| Date | Wednesday 3rd July 2024 |
|---|---|
| Stage classification | Flat |
| Distance | 177.4km |
| Intermediate sprint | Aoste (Saint-Didier) |
| Climbs | Côte du Cheval Blanc (Cat. 4) Côte de Lhuis (Cat. 4) |
| Total climbing | 1,050m |
Vote for one of the main contenders to win Stage 5.
This is a map of the route of Stage 5, Tour de France 2024.
This is a zoom-able map of the route of Stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France.
Note: this routemap was produced a long time in advance of the race, and could be subject to changes.
This is the profile of Stage 5 Tour de France 2024.
| Caravan | Fast Schedule | Slow Schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Time (départ fictif) | 1120 |
1320 |
1320 |
| Start Time (départ réel) | 1130 |
1330 |
1330 |
| Intermediate Sprint Aoste | 1422 |
1607 |
1622 |
| Côte de l'Huis Climb | 1449 |
1632 |
1649 |
| Finish Line (177.4km) | 1537 |
1716 |
1737 |
This is a video of the route of Stage 5 Tour de France 2024.
The equivalent stage in 2023 was Stage 18, which took the Tour from the Alps up towards Lyon. The start town was Moûtiers and the finish was at Bourg-en-Bresse. It was nip and tuck that day between the breakaway and the bunch, but for once it was the breakaway that did it.
Saint Vulbas is within the orbit of Lyon.
One Lyon speciality is quenelle, oval shaped dumplings typically filled with creamed fish.
Poulet Célestine contains chicken, mushroom and tomatoes in a sauce made with cognac, white wine and spices. It was invented by Jacques Rousselot as a way of expressing his feelings for beautiful widow and restaurant manager Célestine.
Beaujolais is a short hop and skip north of Lyon, so Beaujolais wines such as Fleurie are often drunk in the city.
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The stage starts in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (départ fictif).
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a town at the confluence of the Arvan and the Arc. It's named after John the Baptist, and reputedly had relics of John - three fingers brought back from Egypt in the C6th.
If you were to tot up all the relic fingers in the world that are claimed to have belonged to John the Baptist, you would have enough for at least three hands if not more.
The main industries in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne are aluminium production and tourism. Among the visitors it attracts are cyclists who use it as a base to tackle the Alpine cols nearby.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne will have a station on the Turin-Lyon Railway, which is under construction and expected to be finished in 2032.
The last time the Tour de France started in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne was on Stage 19 of the 2019 Tour de France to Tignes, when bad weather and a landslide meant that the race couldn't reach its intended destination.
The départ réel is outside Saint-Jean, shortly before the riders reach Pontamafrey.
Stage 5 takes the peloton down the Maurienne valley, alongside the river Arc, to Aigubelle.
Next there's a stretch alongside the river Isère to Montmélian.
Montmélian has been involved in solar energy since 1983, and now has 1,564m² of solar panels. Triangle Sud is a new district that is being built with the intention that 80% of heating demand will be met by solar energy.
After that, the race passes the vineyards of Chignin.
The vines at Chignin grow on the south-facing slopes at the foot of the Bauges mountains. They are Jacquère grapes, and used to make Chignin, which is a dry white.
Then the stage heads through Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré and Challes-les-Eaux, which is a spa resort with the most sulphorous waters in Europe. Spa facilities opened in 1874.
Imbibing and bathing in foul-smelling water wasn't a full-time occupation, so aristocrats visiting spa resorts needed other things to do. That's why Challes, like many other destinations for valetudinarians, has a casino.
Stage 5 continues via La Ravoire to Chambéry.
Chambéry is an important town in the Savoie département. It was the historic capital of the counts, later dukes, of Savoie.
It was in 1295 that the Count of Savoie Amadeus V made Chambéry his capital, and that status lasted until 1563, when they moved to Turin. The House of Savoy went on to become kings of Italy. In 1860, the former lands of the House of Savoie on the French side of the Alps became part of France, under Napoléon III. The Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861, then Italy became a Republic at the end of World War II.
The château of the Counts of Savoie still stands in Chambéry. It is used for the administration of the département of Savoie.
The elephant fountain was built in 1838 in honour of Général de Boigne, who made his fortune in India. It is nicknamed les quatres sans cul, since the pachyderms have no backsides. The General stands on a column above them.
Chambéry has a large student population; the total population of Chambéry is around 60,000 people. Olivier Giroud is from Chambéry.
Stage 5 leaves Chambéry heading south west on the N6 via Cognin (home town of Robert Badinter who, as Minister of Justice, abolished the death penalty in 1981) to Saint-Thibaud-de-Couz, Saint-Jean-de-Couz, and Saint-Christophe-la-Grotte. Although the road rises here, there is no categorised climb.
The Massif de la Chartreuse is to the riders' left. It has the designation Parc Naturel Régional de la Chartreuse.
The Massif de la Chartreuse forms part of the Préalpes.
The Chartreuse Monastery is up there, at Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. It was the Carthusian monks at Saint-Pierre who developed secret recipes for the disgusting yellow and green Chartreuse liqueurs, which are still made at a distillery at Voiron.
That's what can happen if you get up very early and have too much time on your hands, so think on.
The race descends past caves at Saint-Christophe-la-Grotte to Les Echelles/Entre-Deux-Guiers.
Entre-Deux-Guiers is so-called because of the two rivers Guiers which meet there - le Guiers Vif and le Guiers Mort.
In the 1700s, the town was known for smugglers who avoided taxes and customs charges on contraband goods. The best-known was Louis Mandrin.
From Entre-Deux-Guiers, the race goes north by the Guiers river, through the Gorges de Chailles and on to Saint-Béron.
At La Bridoire the parcours turns west and climbs. This is the first categorised climb of the day, the Côte du Cheval Blanc.
The Côte du Cheval Blanc climb is 1.5km at an average 4.3%, to a height of 335m after 104.6km raced.
Stage 5 continues to Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin.
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Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin is known as 'the town of furniture' and has a museum dedicated to wood-turning machines and woodworking tools. Four euros buys you access to lots of carpentry-related fun and interest.
Still following le Guiers, the riders head for Saint-Génix-sur-Guiers and Aoste.
The intermediate sprint takes place in the commune of Aoste.
It seems to be north of Aoste itself, on the D592, in the village of Saint-Didier, after 123.2km. This is just a stone's throw from the Parc Walibi.
Next the riders cross the river Rhône to Cordon and the Mont de Cordon, then they traverse another arm of the river (the déviation Brégnier-Cordon) to Brégnier.
Now a trek up the Rhône begins.
The race goes past the Cascade de Glandieu - 'exceptionally beautiful and a lovely bistro across the road from it' (Tripadvisor).
The route is right by the Rhône at Le Port de Groslée, then it climbs away from the river. This is the second and final categorised climb of the day, the Côte de Lhuis.
The Côte de Lhuis climb takes the riders up to the village of Lhuis.
It is 3km at an average 4.8%. The top of the climb is at 383m, after 142.8km raced.
A little further on Stage 5 goes through Montagnieu, famous for a sparkling white wine, and Serrières-de-Briord.
It then passes Villebois, known for its stone quarries in the 1600s and 1700s, and crosses the river at Sault-Brénaz. It continues to Vertrieu.
The race is now approaching the finish.
After Vertrieu, the riders cross the Rhône again and follow the D20 to Saint-Vulbas.
There's a sharp right turn into an industrial estate, the Zone Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, and another right turn onto the Avenue des Bergeries.
After a slight bend to the left, the finish line comes into view.
Stage 5 finishes in an industrial estate at Saint-Vulbas.
The nearby Chapelle de Marcilleux seems to be the most interesting feature of Saint-Vulbas, especially photographed with the Bugey nuclear power station behind it (image at the top of the page).
Saint-Vulbas is home to the International Boules Federation. A stage of the Dauphiné finished here in 2016.
The industrial estate (Zone Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain) was built in 1975, and is home to 200 businesses employing 8,200 people.
In terms of history, culture and sights, Stage 5 won't rank top of the finish locations on the 2024 Tour.
One of the sprinters should bag the victory on Stage 5. This is the last time Mark Cavendish will race la Grande Boucle. Could he win today?
The Manx Missile warmed up for the Tour with a stage win in the Tour of Hungary.
Who do you think will win Stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France?
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