Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 5 of the Tour de France - a flat and exposed 189.5km ride through the battlefields of the Somme from Arras to Amiens.

That's why Edet has vanished: Bouhanni has crashed in the peloton and he's required to help out with domestique duties. Remember, Bouhanni started the whole Tour as a doubt after cracking a rib during the French national championships. Let's hope it's nothing too serious out there.

Nicolas Edet appears to have been caught by the peloton - the Frenchman either picked up a puncture or has decided to forget the break and concentrate on helping Codifis team-mate Nacer Bouhanni to a victory at Amiens later today.

Andre Greipel, the Rostock Gorilla, retained the green jersey yesterday despite not finishing in the main pack after being distanced on the succession of cobbled sections that animated the final 45km of the longest stage of the race. Greipel leads Peter Sagan by six points and John Degenkolb by 24 points: 84, 78, 60.

The two leaders have quickly established a gap of two and a half minutes in the light drizzle of the dour Pas-de-Calais. Today is the first stage that we haven't seen a Europcar rider involved in the break.

A reminder of the overall standings after yesterday's stage four: Chris Froome relinquished the yellow jersey in what he described as "the perfect scenario" and now trails big Tony Martin by 12 seconds. Impressive American Tejay van Garderen lurks in third place at 25 seconds with Frenchman Tony Gallopin and Slovakian Peter Sagan completing the top five.

There's an early attack from Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne-Seche Environnement).

They're off! The remaining 191 riders roll out of Arras and get the show on the road. After the carnage of stage three there were no overnight withdrawals. Britain's Alex Dowsett (Movistar) continues despite a nasty gash to his elbow sustained during a crash on the cobbles yesterday. He finished the stage in last place.

Before the start of today's stage the 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome and Sky team-mate Peter Kennaugh laid wreaths on the Commonwealth Memorial at the Franco-British cemetary in Arras in homage to the those soldiers killed during World War One.

Stage 4 recap: Germany's Tony Martin took advantage of a momentary lull after seven gruelling cobblestone sections in the longest stage of the Tour de France to solo to victory in Cambrai and seize the yellow jersey. After attacking with 2.5km remaining of the 223.5km stage from Seraing, Martin held on to finish three seconds clear of a chasing group of main favourites - including overnight leader Chris Froome of Team Sky.

On paper this stage is one for the sprinters - with Mark Cavendish's name on many people's betting slips. Four times in the last seven Tours Cavendish has opened up his account with a win in stage 5 - and after team-mate Tony Martin's victory and yellow jersey ride over the cobbles yesterday, morale must be sky high for Etixx-QuickStep.