Kiwi relinquishes hold on jersey

Kiwi Dion Smith has lost his grip on the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey at the Tour de France.

Smith, who became the first Kiwi to wear the jersey at the Tour de France, held the lead in the climbers’ section for three days.

Smith was already out of contention to retain the jersey – after missing a break of seven riders who collected the bulk of the points from the five categorised climbs – on the hilly stage five yesterday and his day got worse when he was caught up in a crash near the end of the 204.5km route through Brittany from Lorient to Quimper.

Smith did not lose a lot of time and crossed the line in 47th place, 17sec behind the main peloton. He now sits fourth in the King of the Mountains classification.

Smith remains the best of the Kiwis in general classification but is 2min 43sec behind race leader Greg Van Avermaet.

Stage five winner Peter Sagan had Van Avermaet to thank for his victory.

Van Avermaet, wearing the yellow jersey, mistimed his sprint and Sagan took advantage to claim his second victory in this year’s event.

‘‘I don’t know if he did it on purpose or if he wanted to drop everybody but I have to say thanks,’’ Sagan said.

Chris Froome could also thank his Team Sky colleagues for keeping him out of danger – and helping overcome a mechanical problem – in the race’s first hilly stage.

Van Avermaet still increased his overall lead over BMC teammate Tejay van Garderen to 2sec by gaining precious time in an intermediate bonus sprint.

After a move from Philippe Gilbert, Van Avermaet accelerated out of the final turn with 300 metres to go but couldn’t maintain his pace.

‘‘I tried to win the stage but it was pretty complicated,’’ Van Avermaet said. ‘‘Phil went early and he’s still pretty close on GC [general classification] so I couldn’t let him go. I think I went too early in the sprint. I thought the corner was closer to the finish than it really was.’’

In a repeat of stage two, Sagan held off Sonny Colbrelli in the sprint, with Gilbert finishing third.

Gilbert, a former world champion, moved up to third overall, 3sec off the pace.

Froome, the four-time champion who trails Van Avermaet by 57sec in 15th spot, finished in the main pack with the other favourites.