France's Cedric Vasseur went out on a long solo breakaway Thursday in the Tour de France, held on for the fifth stage victory and became the overall leader in cycling's most prestigious race.
In the three previous stages, Francois Simon, Thierry Gouvenou and Philippe Gaumont tried to make long solo rides, but ended up being passed by the pack in the final 30 minutes of each day's race.Vasseur, who held a 17-minute lead at one point in the fifth stage, finished the stage more than two minutes ahead of a small group of riders, led by Australian Stuart O'Grady. Vasseur had left the pack after 71 miles of the 1621/2-mile stage from Chantonnay to La Chatre.
O'Grady, like Vasseur, is a member of the GAN team and his job was to break the rhythm of the small group to keep them from completely overtaking his teammate. He succeeded and gained a second place in the stage.
"(O'Grady) controlled everything and we did everything we wanted to do today," Vasseur said. The main pack came in 3:24 behind.
Vasseur equaled his father, Alain, in winning a stage of the Tour de France. The older Vasseur won a stage in 1970.
"To leave the pack so far from the finish, that takes courage and a lot of class," Alain said. He was proud of his son's victory and overall lead. "It's a great honor. I was really with him the last 15 kilometers."
Vasseur took the overall lead from Mario Cippolini, who is now in second place, more than two minutes behind. Erik Zabel is third, a few seconds behind Cipollini.