Anthony Turgis and Lars Boven narrowly avoid crash with team car in Criterium du Dauphine - 'Take a deep breath'

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Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck) avoided a crash with a team car in a chaotic, fall-ridden fifth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine. The race, won by Jack Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech), featured a spate of falls, including one from race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). The Belgian was able to complete the stage and maintain his overall lead.

‘Got to have eyes on the back of your head!’ – Riders narrowly avoid disaster on Stage 5

Video credit: TNT Sports

Jack Stewart claimed his first World Tour victory on Thursday in a crash-ridden Stage 5 of the Criterium du Dauphine.

The Israel-Premier Tech rider finished ahead of Ineos Grenadiers’ Axel Laurance and Uno-X Mobility’s Soren Waerenskjold in a chaotic dash to the finish line.

Stewart’s win came after his team’s main sprinter, Pascal Ackermann, was forced to abandon the race upon aggravating an elbow injury in a fall with 50km remaining.

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Indeed, the race was marred by a series of crashes, with Soudal Quick-Step’s Louis Vervaeke fracturing his collarbone upon going down, and XDS Astana duo Harold Tejada and Simone Velasco both suffering falls.

While Velasco was able to continue, Tejada was forced to abandon the race with a hand injury.

Meanwhile, GC leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was also caught up in a late crash, though the Belgian only appeared to suffer minor injuries and was able to complete the stage and maintain an overall lead in the standings.

Elsewhere, there was an extremely close call for Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck) that had the TNT Sports commentators gasping.

‘The boys backed me’ – Stewart pays tribute to Israel-Premier Tech team-mates after win

Video credit: TNT Sports

With 49.5 kilometres of the race remaining, Turgis and Boven were weaving through a narrow street, congested with team cars.

As they darted through a gap in the traffic, one of the team cars switched lanes at the last moment to be directly in the pair's line.

Turgis and Bowen were quick to react, veering onto the pavement to narrowly avoid a collision.

"You’ve just got to have eyes at the back of your head", TNT Sports co-commentator Matthew Stephens said. "It just shows how important it is for the team cars, in their eyes, to get back to the front."

Stephens continued: "You’ve got to have eyes in the back of your head and these riders will be very attuned to that.

"They will try and just move up on the left-hand side, but you have these little pinch points through these villages, on these back roads, there are no chevrons, so you can’t get a real indication of how tight a corner might be.

"You can't look at your head unit. You’ve got to look ahead, because things can change, so, so rapidly."

Co-commentator Rob Hatch added: "I think we’ll all take a deep breath after that, shall we".

"I’ve got a dab on just watching that!", Stephens replied.

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