The fifth stage of the Tour de France was a flat 177km course from the foothills of the Alps to the small village of Saint Vurba near Lyon.

First and foremost was the closing sprint where Mark Cavendish made a dash for the record 35th Tour victory that he and his Astana Kazakstan team have been aiming for the past two seasons.

The second was a mishap for race leader Tadej Pogachar 59 km from the finish. Pogachar, who was leading the peloton in the yellow jersey, just barely avoided a warning placed in the middle of a road that split into two lanes, which he successfully avoided at the last second.

Behind the Slovenian, several riders, pushed into a space that no longer existed, slammed into the deck, wreaking havoc. Pogachar later admitted that it was a lucky escape, as his intuition to maneuver the bike came in handy in the nick of time.

"I had good skill in controlling the bike, but my reaction time was poor. I almost hit the ground. I was lucky to avoid that. I'm happy the stage is over. I only have one more day left, but I'll do my best."

After this accident, there were no more pitfalls for Pogachar to avoid in the sprint stage, and he finished 35th in the maillot jaune.

Cavendish then celebrated a day of yellow on the podium by congratulating Eddy Merckx for breaking his long-held record, and as the two prepared for the podium ceremony, Cavendish playfully rubbed his face as he pointed to his new record and said, "Don't lose." He rubbed it.

"I won't, don't worry," Pogachar replied, but he and his 12 stage victories were no match for the legendary sprinter. Not yet, anyway."

Pogachar then told how he, 14 years Cavendish's junior at 39, grew up watching the Manxman win stages.

"As a kid, I watched Mark with my friends and my brother. 'He was a hero to a lot of people. He was winning in those classes with his team. I've been racing with him for six years now. I think we became very good friends. To win stage 35, he's a historic colleague."

"Mark was behind the podium saying, 'Don't break this record,' so I'll give it to him," he joked.

Pogachar's next big challenge in the Tour will be one of two time trials on Friday, a hilly 25.3 km course from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.

Tour riders always talk about "taking it one race day at a time," and Pogachar's heart is surely in the same mantra as he follows the Italian Grande Partenza deep into France.

Still, he expressed confidence that his time trial ability and material have improved since his dominant first half of the Giro/Tour double in May.

"I was already in good shape at the Giro, and after the Giro I think I've lightened the weight of the bike and improved the material a bit," Pogachar said. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can ride. I'm confident going into Lemko, who is probably the best time triallist in the world, and also Roglic and Vingegaard. I'm confident

"He's in good shape. 'I haven't raced with him much, so I don't know if he's at his best on the bike. Definitely he has improved since the Criterium du Dauphiné and he is in good shape here. "

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