Tinkoff’s Peter Sagan had started the day in yellow but like Nibali he cracked on the Puy Mary and finished some 23:37 behind Van Avermaet, saying goodbye to yellow for this Tour at least, although the Slovakian still leads the points classification.
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Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) and last year’s runner-up Nairo Quintana (Movistar) lie fifth and seventh respectively, 5:17 off the pace.
Just two were at the front at the top, though, as Grivko was dropped by the Belgian pair, while the chasers also began to break up on the climb.
It meant any hopes Julian Alaphilippe or Alejandro Valverde had of finishing the day in yellow were disappearing down the road, with the gap to the breakaway holding and some big time gaps opening up.
Things were far worse for Giro d’Italia victor Nibali, who cracked on the category two Puy Mary and finished nearly 14 minutes behind Van Avermaet, conclusively ending the debate over whether he would challenge fellow Italian Fabio Aru for supremacy within Astana.
And 2014 victor Vincenzo Nibali dropped out of contention after losing an incredible 13 minutes as the 134-mile stage featured the first climbs of the Tour.
“I’m not disappointed to lose the yellow jersey, c’est la vie”, the 26-year-old Slovakian said.
When Van Avermaet attacked, he left De Gendt for dead, going after stage glory and the yellow jersey as well, although his compatriot had already done enough to take the king of the mountains jersey. “It’s my first time and perhaps the last so I will enjoy every moment”.
At the finish, the select group of 25 was mostly together, but cracks are starting to appear just in time for the Pyrenees, which loom just two days away. The nine riders were: Cyril Gautier (AG2R-La Mondiale), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Rafal Majka (Tinkoff), Andriy Grivko (Astana), Bartosz Huzarski (Bora-Argon 18), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Romain Sicard (Direct Energie) and Florian Vachon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept).
Two of those – Pauwels and Gautier – suffered a crash on the descent – but got back on the bike, as Van Avermaet crested the final climb of the day with a six-minute lead over the peloton. “It’s kind of unusual because I’m a sprinter and usually you can not enjoy the finish so much”.
It was Cavendish’s third stage win of this Tour, his 29th overall.
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Stage 6 Thursday is a flatter 190.5-kilometre (118-mile) leg from Arpajon-sur-Cere to Montauban.
