Stage 5 Paris-Nice: Twenty-eight riders left the race due to crashes and non-COVID flu leaving 126 riders to continue. Most of the team from Israel-Premier Tech are out due to illness, except for Hugo Houle who remains the only rider to represent the squad. Hugo Houle remained in the game and was with Primoz Roglic in the lead group with 37 km to go. Finishing in 25th, Houle moved up to 11th on GC.
"I was disappointed not to have teammates on the roads today. I hoped everything is going well on my end. There is certainly a virus running through the peloton, as there are 18 riders who did not start this morning. It's a very special situation at the moment. The form is there, all the staff of the team is behind me and I give my 110% because there is a lot of work to do when you don't have teammates. I take care of myself, I have to be very vigilant to attack. I try to follow the best teams to enjoy their work. I have enough experience to do my job.
It was one of the best mountain stages of my career today. We will see day by day for the next stages, it will not be easy, because there are still quite difficult stages. I will try to recover well and be opportunistic by the end of the week."
-Hugo Houle
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