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Stage by stage
stage 5 - Rouen 
Saint-Quentin
196.5 km
Thursday 5 July
Saint-Quentin
196.5 km
Thursday 5 July
Plain - A sporting perspective
Christian Prudhomme’s Analysis
The favourite sprinters in the peloton will definitely call on their team mates on the Saint-Quentin road. Those who are not sure of staying the course all the way to Paris will already have an opportunity to try their luck in the district of the Champs-Élysées provided that the train of sprinters arrives on time.
Rouen
• Stage town on 19 previous occasions
• 113,200 inhabitants
• Prefecture of Seine-Maritime (76)
The first five-time winner of the race took advantage of another stage in Rouen to create his legend. The 1961 edition of the race set off from the region of which he was a native. When he left Normandy and headed for Versailles, Anquetil overcame the race and Charly Gaul in particular in the first stage. The same evening, after a time-trial where he proved to be unbeatable, he put on the Yellow Jersey and he wore it all the way to Paris! This feat has never been achieved again, whereas another Official Start was organised in Rouen in 1997.
• www.rouen.fr
• www.seinemaritime.net
• www.hautenormandie.fr
• www.seinemaritime.net
• www.hautenormandie.fr
• www.seine-maritime-tourisme.fr
• www.normandie-tourisme.fr
Saint-Quentin
• Stage town on 2 previous occasions
• 58 500 inhabitants
• Subprefecture of Aisne (02)
The second time that the Tour finished in Saint Quentin, which was recently voted « the most sporting town in France » by L’Équipe newspaper, was in 2006, the day of the Football World Cup Final. It was an ill-fated day for Zinedine Zidane and his French team mates, but not for Robbie McEwen, who won his second sprint in three days, and who was on the way to his third stage victory, without knowing it, two days later in Vitré. As in 2006, the finish line will be marked out on the edge of the Champs-Élysées Park. This will definitely inspire all of the peloton’s sprinters.
• www.ville-saintquentin.fr
• www.saintquentintv.fr
• www.facebook.com/pages/saintquentintv
• www.saint-quentin-tourisme.fr