Sacha Modolo claimed stage 5 in this year’s Tour de Suisse today, beating Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb in a crash marred sprint finish during the final 500 meters.
Today’s crash claimed Mark Cavendish as one of it’s chief victims, after what appeared to have been a case of Danny Van Poppel bumping wheels with Matt Goss – subsequently sending him into a slide which knocked Cavendish from his bike.
However, despite the horrific scene, both riders managed to remount their bikes and finish the stage.
Race Highlights
Today’s undulating 184 kilometer stage from Ossingen to Büren an der Aare, featured no fewer than two category 3 climbs, as well as two category 4 climbs.
A small breakaway group containing Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat Polkowice), and Sander Armée (Lotto-Belisol), got underway early on in today’s stage. And, from there, the escapees later built up a sizable lead of 5 minutes over the peloton.
However, with 40 kilometers remaining, the breakaway’s lead had been reduced to just 2 minutes. And, by the summit of the final climb, their advantage had been further cut in half.
As the race entered into the final 10 kilometers, the escapees were eventually caught by the peloton – which was being led under the fierce pace of Omega Pharma.
With 3 kilometers remaining, several teams — including Omega Pharma, Katusha, Lotto-Belisol, and Ag2r-La Mondiale — took turns at the front, while ushering their respective sprinters into position.
A tricky, technical finish gave pause to the peloton, which many onlookers felt precipitated the crash that occurred just before the finish.
Wiggins Abandons
In other race news, Bradley Wiggins abandoned the Tour following a crash in yesterday’ stage.
Wiggins, posted on Sky’s website that swelling on the inside of his right knee – led to his departure.
“I probably could have started today but it’s best to play it safe and come home now,” Wiggins said. “I really want to try to be ready for the Nationals next Thursday so I didn’t want to jeopardize that for the sake of pushing on and potentially doing more damage.”
Sky’s team doctor Steve Baynes further described Wiggins’ injuries as:
“He’s suffered some pretty bad bruising on the left side of his right thigh muscle which is restricting his movement on the bike and obviously causing him discomfort. That’s going to require some treatment so, having spoken to Brad, we felt the best plan of action would be to withdraw him from the race and fly him back to the UK.”
Wiggins stated that he was riding at the back of the peloton, when several riders in front of him suddenly hit their brakes. And, as he slowed, a rider collided with him from behind – causing them to crash.
“The plan is to get home today, have 24 hours off the bike and then I’ll be good to go again and finalize my preparations for Wales next week,” Wiggins said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-yK4CM03s
photo credit @ Tour de suisse
Stage 5 Results
ITA 1 MODOLO, Sacha (LAMPRE – MERIDA) 4:08:06 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) GER 3 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT-SHIMANO) NOR 4 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) ESP 5 ROJAS GIL, Jose Joaquin (MOVISTAR) NED 6 VAN POPPEL, Danny (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 2 BEL 7 VANGENECHTEN, Jonas (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4 AUS 8 HAUSSLER, Heinrich (IAM CYCLING) SUI 9 SCHURTER, Nino (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 5 ITA 10 GUARNIERI, Jacopo (ASTANA) + 7
General Classification after Stage 5 GER 1 MARTIN, Tony (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) 18:27:47 NED 2 DUMOULIN, Tom (GIANT-SHIMANO) + 6 SVK 3 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) + 10 NED 4 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 17 NED 5 SLAGTER, Tom Jelte (GARMIN SHARP) + 23 ITA 6 FORMOLO, Davide (CANNONDALE) + 27 ESP 7 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI, Jon (MOVISTAR) CZE 8 KREUZIGER, Roman (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 28 SUI 9 FRANK, Mathias (IAM CYCLING) + 29 ITA 10 CATTANEO, Mattia (LAMPRE – MERIDA)
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