The 2020 Tour de France, already distinct from other Tour de France events, was even more exceptional on Wednesday.

In the 183 km from Gap to Privas on stage 5, not a single rider was more than 1 km from the front. Except for a brief moment of acceleration by Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick Step), who was substituting for race leader Julien Alaphilippe, no one tried to challenge for the lead on a day sandwiched between two mountain stages.

Whether this was completely unprecedented is unclear, but no one could think of a better example than the peloton nullifying a stage in protest or in memory of a deceased rider.

The lack of a breakaway group sparked debate among riders past and present, especially Yoann Offredo, who seemed almost angry in the France Televisions studio.

"I had the chance to spend four hours on TV. Cycling is marketing. We hadn't had a race in over three months.

"People might say, 'Tomorrow is a hard stage,' or 'It was a tough weekend,' but it's the Tour de France. It's the biggest race in the world."

Offredo, whose Circus Wantigover team was not invited to this year's Tour de France, is the famous Baroudour, who famously made a solo attack about 200 km from the finish in the 2018 Tour. Jérôme Cousin, of Total Direct Energie, was left out of a two-man breakaway group, but remained alone for more than 100 km.

"Jérôme put it nicely when he said, "In honor of the Tour de France, I didn't sit out."

Offredo's view, however, was not shared by everyone; in Eurosport, former pro Bernhard Eisel saw no reason to complain about the lack of a break.

"They were not running slowly, their average speed was 42 km/h, despite CCC's Simon Geschke's claim that he could have done the first 120 km in jeans and a T-shirt.

"There is no rule that says you have to run away in a bicycle race," Eisel continued. 'This is a professional sport. The riders wear funny clothes, but this is not a circus. I fully defend the riders. They acted with common sense. Why did they go into the break when they knew they were going to get caught anyway?"

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In the end, the stage was won by Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma), who acknowledged the difficulty of the early stages and the fact that stage 5 was unsuitable for an escape, but still struggled to grasp the situation.

"I was really surprised. I haven't been racing in the World Tour for very long, but today was the first time I raced at this level. No one was interested.

"You don't have to kill yourself completely in a breakaway group because the group will always ride the speed of the front group. Teams like ours have a lot of hard work ahead of us, so I understand why they try to conserve energy as much as possible. We have a big GC goal, but I'm sure there are a lot of teams out there who want to show what they can do."

Back in the France Télévisions studio, it was noted that even the smaller teams participating in this year's Tour have ambitions beyond airtime: B&B Hotels-Vital Concept and Total Direct Energie have Brian Coquard and Niccolo Bonifazio, both sprinters, and Arkéa-Samsic has a yellow jersey candidate in Nairo Quintana.

Still, it was not enough for Offredo, who will miss this Tour.

"Last year I finished the tour in a pitiful state. That's because I'm not a big champion, but it's also because I told myself to take every chance that came my way. When I finish the Tour, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I took all the chances."

"Today may not have been a chance to win a stage, but it was certainly a chance to be at the front of the most beautiful race in the world."