Ben Swift won stage 5 of the 2014 Vuelta al País Vasco in Markina-Xemein, Spain today. The British rider managed to survive five challenging climbs to claim a bunch sprint finish after 160 kilometers of racing. Alejandro Valverde finished second, with Michal Kwiatkowski rounding out the podium in third spot.
Meanwhile, Alberto Contador managed to defend his 12-second overall lead over Valverde, despite the Movistar rider’s daring descent along Alto de Aiastia.
The duo, along with yesterday’s stage winner, Wout Poels attacked high on the climb. However, a determined chase group of approximately 20 riders caught the trio during the final 1.6 kilometers.
Tony Martin led out the sprint for Kwiatkowski, but no one could match Swift at the line.
The Vuelta al País Vasco concludes tomorrow with a 24 kilometer individual time trial in Beasain.
Stage 5 Results
GBR 1 SWIFT, Ben (SKY) 4:12:46 ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) POL 3 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) NED 4 SLAGTER, Tom Jelte (GARMIN SHARP) ITA 5 CUNEGO, Damiano (LAMPRE – MERIDA) FRA 6 GAUTIER, Cyril (EUROPCAR) FRA 7 HIVERT, Jonathan (BELKIN) FRA 8 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 9 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) AUS 10 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) FRA 11 JEANNESSON, Arnold (FDJ.fr) FRA 12 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) BEL 13 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO BELISOL) RUS 14 TROFIMOV, Yury (KATUSHA) USA 15 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) GBR 16 YATES, Simon (ORICA GreenEDGE) NED 17 POELS, Wouter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) SLO 18 SPILAK, Simon (KATUSHA) ESP 19 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) CRO 20 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TREK FACTORY RACING) ESP 21 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) GER 22 MARTIN, Tony (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) NED 23 WEENING, Pieter (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 31 FRA 24 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 1:05 FRA 25 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT-SHIMANO) CZE 26 KREUZIGER, Roman (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 1:39 ESP 27 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) FRA 28 DUPONT, Hubert (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 29 MEDEREL, Maxime (EUROPCAR) BEL 30 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) + 2:17
General Classification after Stage 5 ESP 1 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) 20:30:31 ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 12 ITA 3 CUNEGO, Damiano (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 36 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) FRA 5 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) RUS 6 TROFIMOV, Yury (KATUSHA) POL 7 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 41 ESP 8 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) + 54 NED 9 POELS, Wouter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 55 ESP 10 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 56 NED 11 SLAGTER, Tom Jelte (GARMIN SHARP)
FRA 12 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr)
You must be logged in to post a comment.
