Satirist and author Thomas Carlyle once argued that he would rather die of exhaustion than of boredom, a problem that would not be a problem for the peloton in stage 5 of the 2020 Tour de France. As race director Christian Prudhomme waved the flag loudly to signal the start of hostilities on the outskirts of the Gap, his car accelerated, leaving room between the rear bumper and the front of the peloton for attackers to rush in.

Nothing happened.

And for a long, long time, nothing happened. Kasper Asgreen (Detunink-Quickstep), who was tasked with policing the attack as teammate of race leader Julian Alaphilippe and sprinter Sam Bennett, radioed the team car for permission to attack. His brief attack was thwarted by Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal). After that, that was all there was to it, except that the Bora-Hansgrohe player jokingly stepped on the gas pedal with one foot.

Until Prevas, almost nothing happened for 183 km from the gap. In terms of race action, after a long, non-existent stage, during which race fans pondered the age-old philosophical question, "If no one races bicycles, is it racing?" the cesium-133 atoms oscillated 34,959,595,009,540 times in the last 10 km, and A crosswind briefly blew and Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) won the sprint.

And it was a reminder that the Tour can be unpredictable. Julien Alaphilippe lost the yellow jersey after a 20-second time penalty at the end of the stage.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the race was when Benoit Cosnefrois scored a point on the climb of the fourth section, the Col de Serre Colon. In the past few years, the mountain prize has been criticized for not being a very exciting battle for the prize. The stage, which had been uncontested until the outskirts of Privas, featured an almost uncontested sprint.

Post-stage penalties aside, it was a boring day. It was not the first boring stage in the Tour de France, and probably not the last this year. But it was the first time in years that a breakaway group did not advance. This was unusual, but ultimately made little difference in a race that would have finished in a sprint in every realistic scenario. In fact, the last time the peloton won a flat stage after chasing a breakaway was when Thomas Voeckler won stage 5 in 2009.

The warning signs have been there for several years. Yoann Offredo attacked on a stage in 2018 and shook his head in disbelief when he saw no one chasing him. Just two days earlier, Jérôme Cousin spent most of the day laboring alone in front of the pack.

The chances of a successful escape at such a stage are so slim that we call it a "suicide break." And a number of factors have made escapes increasingly unlikely to succeed. First, sprinters' teams are too numerous to give up their chances for stage wins in the most important race in the world. They never allow more than four riders to climb on the flat stages and five on the outsides, and the lead is seldom more than three and a half minutes; second, as the sport has developed, teams have become more ambitious than ever before.

There used to be a number of teams that had neither big sprinters nor big GC riders, and those teams formed the break. Now, even Arkea Samsic, which sent one rider on the road almost every day of its first Tour since 2014, has protected a potential yellow jersey winner around Nairo Quintana.

Third, the Tour has become progressively more difficult, with fewer flat stages and more mountain stages and intermediate mountain stages. Especially this year, with far fewer races available for the riders' legs, they have analyzed the cost-benefit of going into the break, and have realized that the physical cost of two and a half weeks of very hard stages and tiring legs is more than the benefit, both in terms of the low chance of actually winning and in terms of exposure to sponsors. They must realize that it's bigger. Who would want to tire a rider out for an hour or two of televised action when a viral tweet could get far more attention that way?

Some GC teams have almost completely given up on putting riders on breaks: in 2019, Ineos did not send Dylan Van Barre up the climb until stage 18. And that was to provide support on the climb to the GC contenders' leaders. (This is nothing new; they did the exact same thing in 2016. No one joined the break until stage 18.)

The question is whether this matters. A flat day breakaway is doomed anyway, and the only real question is "who will win the sprint?" There is no real race suspense, just a topic for the TV commentators. Braking is greater in the mountains, and sometimes they get separated, sometimes they don't. The "race within a race" always happens on these days.

If ASO really wants more breaks on flat stages, they can pull levers to facilitate that, such as bonus seconds, bonus sprints, reorganization of the points competition, smaller teams, etc. With more days like Stage 5, these ideas could be tested.

At the same time, as a follower of cycling, I know that the Tour is more than just a race. The slowly unfolding stages against the backdrop of stunning scenery and impressive chateaus are part of the fun of watching the race on TV. And the pictures of the riders and small groups of riders who are a few minutes ahead of the peloton to reach the finish are part of the symbolism of the race and an expression of hope and optimism in the face of challenges.

And anyway, the Tour needs no breaks. Just as he was digesting the slowest day in the race's history, Alaphilippe lost the yellow jersey. Even on days when nothing happens, the Tour is exciting.

As part of the Midsummer Sale (opens in new tab), subscriptions to Pro Cycling magazine are now £5 for the first five issues (UK only). After the first five issues, you will pay £17.52 per quarter.