Good news only hampered by loss of green points jersey to Gilbert after disqualification in intermediate sprint
Movistar had a good day at the Tour de France's fifth stage, with Jose Joaquin Rojas sprinting to a third place behind Mark Cavendish and Philippe Gilbert. Rojas' teammate José Ivan Gutiérrez took home the award for the most combative rider of the day. Rojas was actually awarded the green jersey on the podium, but later lost it. He was disqualified from the intermediate sprint result, having to hand back the jersey to Gilbert. Tom Boonen was also relegated from the intermediate sprint result after the commissaires ruled that both had made a dangerous move.
Rojas was not only spurred on by the green jersey, but fully believed in his chance of stage victory. "At the finish I felt confident, I had really good legs and I was keeping Cavendish's wheel," Rojas said. But the nervousness of the entire stage didn't let up in the final. "Petacchi took a strong blow on my side with over a kilometer to go. You can imagine what a hit like this feels like, at 60 km/h." Neither rider went down, but Rojas was distracted. "I almost couldn't breath, and that took my focus off and made the difference, so I couldn't keep that bit to beat Cavendish."
Rojas was still content with finishing third. "We're talking about one of the best sprinters in history, and [battling] with him is something to be proud of." He had to let Gilbert pass as well, and received zero points at the intermediate sprint after the relegation. Gilbert scored eight points in Goudelin, after 70km. Gilbert leads Rojas now by ... eight points!
The Spaniard explained his viewpoint in the hectic run-up to the intermediate line, where a crash brought down Alberto Contador and others. "It was a really nervous day. As expected, there was so much wind, and that always takes some stress." Rojas had his work for points cut out from the start. "Right from kilometer zero, it was a race that took us a lot of stamina." Rojas looked at the bright side of things. "I keep showing people that the green jersey is something within my reach."
Teammate Gutiérrez was all smiles at the finish, receiving the most combative rider award. After stage three, it was his second try in a break, which he joined after not listening well to his directeur sportif. "Eusebio Unzué did tell us today that it was a day to be calm, but I like to be in a good position at the start. There was some speed, I got there and I hadn't anything to do but keeping myself on front."
This time Gutiérrez had a better day than two day's prior. "It was more comfortable than in the previous break, because we had a tail wind for most of the stage and riding separately was more comfortable than in the bunch, with all nervousness inside." Gutiérrez was taking turns with Sébastien Turgot (Europcar), Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun).
Gutiérrez has a good nose to spot the moves. "Breaks are being formed rather easily and that's how it's supposed to be before the Massif Central, where escapes will have better chances to succeed." The crashes is also something that the Spaniard sees not as unusual. "This is being a typical first week at the Tour, with stress, crashes, bad weather like yesterday, which causes you muscular fatigue... That's the Tour de France, there's a difficulty where you don't expect it."
Gutiérrez will continue his aggressive racing until the peloton hits the Pyrenees. "It's obvious that I won't be there in the big mountains, so I have to keep trying for my chances in the other stages."