The Lotto-Intermarché bus probably didn't envisage they'd be the last ones out of the parking lot after stage five. It's been over an hour since the stage finished, but they've had to wait for Baptiste Veistroffer to finish podium duties. When the hero of the hour finally does appear round the side of the vehicle, he's practically bounding. His energy levels are surprising for a man who's just spent roughly 144 kilometres alone off the front on a 158.3km stage. 323 watts, 15 bottles, 500 grams of carbs and 4638 calories was what it took for him to win hearts in Pau.

"It was nice!" he beams as a group of team staff clap him on the back. The Frenchman is probably grateful for company after the three-and-a-half-hour spell he spent alone earlier in the day. "I'm so lucky. I think it is a big chance for me to be in the biggest race of the pro cyclist on the front. I'm so lucky I think!"

In his hands, he clutches the fruits of his effort for taking the intermediate sprint points and claiming the day's only KOM: a bouquet of flowers for the combativity prize, awarded to the rider who dared get up the road with a peloton of sprinter heavyweights in tow. His frantic giddiness verges on comical, and he can't fathom why no one else fancied their chances up the road.

"I don't know why! I just did what I like to do. I have to go, sorry!" he says over his shoulder, as he's whisked off to celebrate with a massage to the sound of applause from the small crowd now gathered around the bus.

In a sprint stage destined for seasoned Tourists Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier, it was the debutants who took the day as theirs. But while Olav Kooij's victory was hardly surprising given his tally of 50 (now 51) professional wins, Veistroffer's endeavours make for a less-expected, albeit equally heartwarming tale. Just four years ago, the 26-year-old was working as a naval engineer building ships for the French Navy, before switching to professional cycling.

So while his efforts were swallowed up by a thundering peloton hurtling towards Pau with 14 kilometres to go, his animation in the break was reflected in his enthusiastic speech to the television cameras afterwards. In the pressure-cooker of a Tour de France bunch sprint, Veistroffer was out there having fun. A good time on the road was deserved by the domestique-turned-breakaway merchant, the opening stages of his first Grand Tour spent in service of a struggling Arnaud de Lie, who abandoned on stage three.

"I wanted to enjoy myself, and that's exactly what I did right from the start, at kilometre 0. I thought it through, and then I went for it," he said on the podium right after the stage. "I've enjoyed myself all day long. It's an incredible opportunity and a source of immense pride to do this in front of the French public, at the world's greatest race, with all the towns decked out, the houses adorned with flowers, and people having their picnics by the roadside."

Image credit: Zac Williams/ SWpix.com

The atmosphere outside camp Alpecin-Premier Tech was comparatively morose. There was no kicking and screaming retaliation from Philipsen, who finished fifth on the stage behind Veistroffer's teammate Huub Artz. Instead, it was a sort of resignation to the volatility of a bunch sprint, and to the fact that some days, it just doesn't work out.

The ten-time Tour de France stage winner was surprisingly measured: "I wouldn't say I expected victory. I wouldn't say I tried to win the stage, but that didn't happen. We tried our best, but just the legs today. I think we can always look for excuses or whatever. Yeah, just the finish was going super, super fast, and I was quickly on the limit, not how I normally feel on a bunch sprints, so yeah, something to look into."

Soudal-Quickstep's Tim Merlier, the favourite for the stage, also suffered from the predictable chaos of a sprint stage, when a late crash took out the stalwarts of his lead-out train, Jasper Stuyven and Bert Van Lerberghe. The Belgian finished third behind XDS Astana's Max Kanter.

A stage like this is a prime example of the real luxury of having nothing to lose in the Tour de France. While the pressure piles on for the fastmen favourites as the sprint opportunities come and go, Veistroffer can revel in the novelty of it all. He's having fun — but the fire is fueled:

"Given how fit I am, I might have to be a bit more selective because there's a chance to achieve something really good."