Brit Adam Yates is the new Tour de France race leader, after commissioners handed down a 20-second time penalty to Julian Alaphilippe for an illegal feed in the final 20km of stage five.
Under the rules of world governing body Union Cycliste Internationale, riders are not allowed to take on food or drink in the final 20km of a stage.
"I didn't realise at all that it was unauthorised," says Alaphilippe. "It's not a problem - I'll pick myself up again and we'll forget about it."
Yates leads Slovenian Primoz Roglic - Jumbo-Visma teammate of Kiwi George Bennett - by three seconds in the standings, after Alaphilippe dropped to 16th overall.
"This is not the way I'd imagined taking the yellow jersey," says Yates. "If I'm honest, no-one wants to take the jersey like this.
"I was looking to take the jersey on stage six anyway, so I'll go in with the same tactic - try to win the stage and see what happens."
The stage was won by Belgian Wout van Aert - another of Bennett's teammates - who was the fastest in the sprint at the end of the 183km ride from Gap to Privas that featured no breakaway, an almost unprecedented scenario in the modern era.
Dutchman Cees Bol was second and Sam Bennett took third place, becoming the first Irishman to wear the green jersey for the points classification since Sean Kelly 31 years ago.
After leading the field into the finishing straight, Jack Bauer was the best of the Kiwis, finishing 35s behind van Aert, while George Bennett and Sam Bewley were both 4m 50s behind.
In the general classification, Bennett is the best-placed Kiwi in 46th. He's now 9m 21s behind Yates, but his Jumbo-Visma team have now won the last two stages, after Roglic took the mountain finish on stage four.
Friday's sixth stage is a 191km middle-mountain trek from Le Teil to the Mont Aigoual.
Reuters/Newshub
