July 11, 2003 – Another sprint and another win for  Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo). Crowd favourite, Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour), earned himself the Polka-Dot jersey today by gaining points in a long breakaway in the hot, rolling stage before being chased back by Fassa Bortolo and the other sprinter's teams, with Finot staying away until the sprinter's teams began chasing. The first Colombian to wear the Yellow Jersey, Victor Hugo Pena (US Postal-Berry Floor) kept the lead, despite his team clearly stating they would not waste precious energy defending Pena, instead saving it for their main man Lance  Armstrong.   

Stage 5: Troyes – Nevers, 196.5 k 

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa  Bortolo                  4.09.47 (47.2
km/h)
2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R  Prevoyance                          
3. Baden Cooke (Aus)  FDJeux.com                                 
4. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team  Telekom                                
5. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto  Domo                               
6. Luca Paolini (Ita)  Quick.Step-Davitamon                      
7. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit  Agricole                           
8. Stuart O'grady (Aus) Credit  Agricole                         
9. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini  Caldirola-So.Di                    
10. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean  Delatour                          

Overall: 
1. Victor Hugo Pena (Col) US Postal-Berry  Floor           17.54.31
2.  Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal-Berry  Floor                 0.01
3. Vjatceslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal-Berry  Floor               0.05
4. George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry  Floor                  
5. José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry  Floor               0.23
6. Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal-Berry  Floor                   0.27
7. Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry  Floor                    
8. Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal-Berry  Floor                    0.28
9. Joseba Beloki (Spa)  ONCE-Eroski                             0.33
10. Jorg Jaksche (Ger)  ONCE-Eroski                             0.38