Christophe Kern (Europcar) has won Stage 5 of the Dauphine Libere. Kern surged away from four companions in the last three km to win the rugged, 210-km ride from Villars-les-Dombes to Les Gets in 5:05:03. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank) finished second at 0:07, and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) took third at 0:09. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) remains the overall leader.

The peloton began the stage at a blistering pace that snuffed out breaks. After several abortive sallies, Jason McCartney (RadioShack) escaped at about 95 km. The peloton did not chase, and McCartney's lead ballooned to 12:45 by 135 km.

Katusha and Sky began to chase. Eventually, Europcar joined these two squads, and the jig was up. With 10 km left, Tony Martin (HTC), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), and Maciej Paterski (Liquigas) attacked and reeled in McCartney. The three attackers forged a 15-second lead.

Behind, a chase group composed of Oliver Zaugg (Leopard-Trek), Kern, Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), Pierrick Fedrigo (Francaise des Jeux), and David Lopez Garcia (Movistar), among others, formed. With five km left, the chasers bridged up to the Martin group. Zaugg attacked and opened a small gap.

With three km left, Kern attacked. He caught and dropped Zaugg and kept on going. Behind, the yellow jersey group watched and then began attacking each other to no avail. Kern held off the chasers for the win.

In the overall, Wiggins leads Cadel Evans (BMC) by 1:11 and Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) by 1:20. Stage 6 will be a challenging one, particularly for the GC contenders. The mountainous, 192.5-km ride from Les Gets to Le Collet d'Allevard will feature six categorized climbs, including a Category 1 climb and an Hors Categorie ascent at the end. Will Wiggins keep his yellow jersey? Will better climbers take it from him? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!