After all the mud and gunk from yesterday's cobbled sectors, it seemed like adding insult to injury by starting stage 6 in Arras's muddy and cobbled citadel.
Team buses pulled in to the parking lot in advance of the sign on.
Like yesterday, Thomas Voeckler was the first rider to sign on which also gave him the honor of strapping helmets on 9 school kids on stage.
Europcar team leader Pierre Rolland gave a quick interview in front of the fans.
Andrew Talansky said he was pleased the stage 5 cobbles went well for Garmin, placing him in 9th place overall at 2:05 down.
Marcus Burghardt, always happy to sign autographs.
Vincenzo Nibali and Astana were the current leaders of the team competition as well as holding the yellow jersey.
Belgium's Bart De Clercq.
Autographs were somewhat harder to come by today because a lot of the peloton understandably just wanted to get back on their buses to avoid the damp and dreary weather as well as not being keen to step off the token rubber mats and on to the mud. Another reality was that many riders, dressed in their rain capes, walked to the sign on podium, meaning that without a visible number on their jersey and without a bike altogether, there was a good handful of riders that I simply couldn't identify. Of course, there was the usual last minute rush, too.
Lars Bak and Alessandro Petacchi took care to check their bikes before going to the start.
A hungry Jan Bakelants was visibly damaged after earlier crashes.
Maciej Bodmar, Jean-Marc Marino, and Romain Feilleu were among the many cyclists who filled their pockets with gels and snacks for the 194 kilometer stage with 2 climbs graded category 4.
Each rider on Cannondale received a special paint job on his Tour bike to reflect his animal nickname. Below: close up of Maciej “Buffalo” Bodnar.
The peloton spiled over into the sign on area from the narrow street ahead of the unofficial start.
Today's dozen autographs came from: 9 Xabier Zandio, 26 Egor Silin, 53 Alessandro De Marchi, 65 Tom Leezer, 125 Mathieu Ladagnous, 126 Cédric Pineau, 141 Tejay Van Garderen, 155 Yohan Géne, 183 Simon Clarke, 189 Simon Yates, 204 Zak Dempster, and 216 Arnaud Gérard.
