photo credits @ Le Tour
Fabio Aru (Astana) earned his first Tour de France stage victory, after commencing an explosive performance on La Planche des Belles Filles to claim today’s stage 5.
The Italian rider surged clear of the group of general classification favorites during the last two kilometers of today’s steep, summit finish to seize a solo victory.
Meanwhile, Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) accelerated away along the final ramp to the finish to take second place, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished in third to wrest the overall lead from his teammate Geraint Thomas.
Aru succeeded in holding-off a world-class field of climbers as Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors), Froome and Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) all counterattacked, but could not get back on terms with the Italian champion.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) were among the big-name climbers who could not keep pace with that chasing group either.
Team Sky set a high tempo on the final climb with a big early turn by Michał Kwiatskowski, who peeled off with around 3 kilometers to go, before Aru made his decisive attack.
After he stage, Aru said, “my attack went really well, but I wasn’t sure when I attacked if I would be able to stay out in the front, so I was delighted to get across the line.”
Race Highlights
Earlier in the day Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) attacked as soon as the flag dropped, and he was joined by Jan Bakelants (AG2R-La Mondiale), Mickaël Delage (FDJ), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fortuneo-Oscaro).
BMC Racing Team powered away at the front of the peloton for most of the day – constantly holding the gap at around two minutes.
When the peloton hit the base of the final climb the gap to the break was still 42”, but with a grueling 5.6 kilometers to go, the breakaway group was never going to survive.
Stage 5 Results ITA 1 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) 3:44:06 IRL 2 MARTIN, Daniel (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 16 GBR 3 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 20 AUS 4 PORTE, Richie (BMC RACING) FRA 5 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 24 GBR 6 YATES, Simon (ORICA – SCOTT) + 26 COL 7 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) ESP 8 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TREK – SEGAFREDO) COL 9 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOVISTAR) + 34 GBR 10 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) + 40 RSA 11 MEINTJES, Louis (UAE Team Emirates) POL 12 MAJKA, Rafal (BORA – HANSGROHE) IRL 13 ROCHE, Nicholas (BMC RACING) + 1:05 NZL 14 BENNETT, George (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 1:07 ESP 15 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (SKY) DEN 16 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA) FRA 17 LATOUR, Pierre Roger (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:10 BEL 18 PAUWELS, Serge (DIMENSION DATA) FRA 19 MARTIN, Guillaume (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) + 1:13 ITA 20 CARUSO, Damiano (BMC RACING) BEL 21 KEUKELEIRE, Jens (ORICA – SCOTT) GER 22 BUCHMANN, Emanuel (BORA – HANSGROHE) + 1:17 ESP 23 NIEVE ITURRALDE, Mikel (SKY) COL 24 HENAO MONTOYA, Sergio Luis (SKY) + 1:36 NED 25 TEN DAM, Laurens (SUNWEB) + 1:39 BEL 26 BENOOT, Tiesj (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 1:43 SUI 27 FRANK, Mathias (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:47 BEL 28 WELLENS, Tim (LOTTO SOUDAL) POL 29 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (SKY) + 1:52 RSA 30 JANSE VAN RENSBURG, Reinardt (DIMENSION DATA) + 1:54 COL 31 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA – SCOTT) + 1:59 NED 32 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK – SEGAFREDO) CZE 33 CINK, Ondrej (BAHRAIN – MERIDA) CZE 34 KREUZIGER, Roman (ORICA – SCOTT) + 2:13 FRA 35 FEILLU, Brice (FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT) + 2:17
General Classification after Stage 5 GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) 18:38:59 GBR 2 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) + 12 ITA 3 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 14 IRL 4 MARTIN, Daniel (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 25 AUS 5 PORTE, Richie (BMC RACING) + 39 GBR 6 YATES, Simon (ORICA – SCOTT) + 43 FRA 7 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 47 ESP 8 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TREK – SEGAFREDO) + 52 COL 9 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOVISTAR) + 54 POL 10 MAJKA, Rafal (BORA – HANSGROHE) + 1:01
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