Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) lost nine points on stage 5 of the Tour de France and fell to second in the battle for the green jersey.

Irishman Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) swapped his national champion kit for the green jersey after winning an intermediate sprint bonus in Lépine at the 47.5km mark of the 183km stage from Gap to Privas. Sagan settled for fourth place, a major blow for him on a day when a breakaway group should have been able to break away.

At the finish, the Beulah-Hansgrohe rider followed Team Sunweb's lead group after being dropped by Daniel Oss, but again Bennett was faster, passing Sagan before the finish line and taking the stage winner Wout Van Aert ( He took third place behind stage winner Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Cees Boll (Sunweb).

"It was okay. I was in the lead and Daniel put me in a good position. In the end Van Aert won with a great sprint and I was fourth. Sunweb is a good team. They did a great job."

Sagan has been the Tour de France points leader for 127 days. Most years he won the jersey in two or three stages and held it until Paris; in 2015 and 2016 he went back-and-forth with Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish, respectively, but in the past eight years he has won a total of seven overall Tour de France points.

Asked if anything went wrong on Wednesday, Sagan shrugged: "It's only day five. It's only day five. We arrived for the group sprint, we lost some points, but we still gained some points. The Tour de France is long and there are climbing stages. You have to relax."

Bennett's capture of the green jersey from Sagan will be a consolation for Dečuninck-Quick-Step. Alaphilippe dropped to 16th overall, 16 seconds behind race leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).