Liquigas team rider Filippo Pozzato of Italy cycles ahead of Rabobank's Oscar Freire of Spain to win the fifth stage of the Tour de France between Chablis and Autun yesterday. - Reuters

AUTUN, France (Reuters):

RACE FAVOURITE Alexander Vinokourov lost ground in his bid to win the Tour de France when he failed to recover fully from a crash towards the end of the fifth stage yesterday.

The Kazakh Astana leader crashed with 25km remaining of the 182.5-km ride from Chablis to Autun and crossed the finish line one minute and 20 seconds behind stage winner Italian Filippo Pozzato.

Liquigas rider Pozzato outsprinted Spaniard Oscar Freire of the Rabobank team with Italian Daniele Benatti coming home third for Lampre.

Swiss CSC rider Fabian Cancel-lara retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after finishing safe in the main pack.

"We managed to defend the jersey with the help of the Liquigas team, who deserved the stage win today," Cancellara said.

Minor injuries

Vinokourov, who ripped his shorts and suffered grazing to his right buttock in the crash, tried to rejoin the peloton with the help of six teammates but the collective effort failed to bear fruit and the Kazakh went solo to limit the damage.

The Astana team leader is now two minutes 10 seconds adrift of Cancellara. He trails teammate Andreas Kloeden, who also crashed during the stage, by 1:53.