The first climb of the day is over 4km long and starts climbing in town and chased by a lumpy road to Charbonnières. It was a different road but the same place where Julian Alaphilippe attacked in the 2018 Paris-Nice and imploded, the lesson of the day was that the climb was too long for him.

Like on stage four, there are any number of riders who could find some joy in Vire Normandie today. Tadej Pogacar loves a climb and a stage win, particularly in yellow, and the 10% gradient on the final climb will appeal to him - if the GC teams control the stage, which UAE certainly tend to do whenever the big man has a victory in his sights.