John Degenkolb won stage 5 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana today, marking the German rider’s second stage victory in a row.
Once again, Degenkolb managed to fend-off his rivals, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) and Moreno Hofland (Belkin), during a chaotic uphill sprint finish in Ronda.
Race Details
A two-man breakaway group containing Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Belisol) commenced an early escape during today’s stage. And, at one point, the duo succeeded in building up an advantage of 2:36 over the peloton.
However, as a result of Martin having a mechanical problem with his bike, Ligthart was left to push on alone.
Back in the main field, as the race reached the second intermediate check point, Chris Froome surprised the peloton with an attack from within the ranks – that netted the British rider a couple of sprint points.
Out front and tired, Ligthart was eventually caught, as the race tackled the only classified climb of the day. At that point, Tinkoff-Saxo took to the front, subsequently causing a split in the peloton, with only a hand full of top contenders like Dengenkolb, Bouhanni and Matthews making the cut.
As the peloton hit the lower slopes of the Puerto El Saltillo, the chasing group was trailing by almost a minute.
From there, BMC led the peloton under the flamme rouge, in an attempt to set up Philippe Gilbert. Giant-Shimano was there also, with Koen de Kort trying to lead out is teammate Dengenkolb. However, despite de Kort’s failed tactics during the final 200 meters, Degenkolb emerged from the center of the peloton to pass a faltering Philippe Gilbert.
In turn, Bouhanni tried to make his way up the inside, but found himself boxed in between the Giant-Shimano rider and the fan-lined barriers. The French rider then threw his arms in the air in protest, which was quickly dismissed by race officials.
Meanwhile, Michael Matthews finished safety in the bunch to defended his leader’s position, and extend his lead over second place Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhZFWnIbSg4
Stage 5 Results
GER 1 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT-SHIMANO) 4:04:21 FRA 2 BOUHANNI, Nacer (FDJ.fr) NED 3 HOFLAND, Moreno (BELKIN) BEL 4 STUYVEN, Jasper (TREK FACTORY RACING) GER 5 MARTENS, Paul (BELKIN) FRA 6 MONDORY, Lloyd (AG2R LA MONDIALE) BEL 7 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) ESP 8 REYNES MIMO, Vicente (IAM CYCLING) ITA 9 SBARAGLI, Kristian (MTN – QHUBEKA) ITA 10 FERRARI, Roberto (LAMPRE – MERIDA) AUS 11 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) BEL 12 DEBUSSCHERE, Jens (LOTTO BELISOL) BLR 13 HUTAROVICH, Yauheni (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 14 HARDY, Romain (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 5 GBR 15 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) GBR 16 KENNAUGH, Peter (SKY) ITA 17 CARUSO, Damiano (CANNONDALE) ESP 18 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) AUS 19 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) POR 20 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (GARMIN SHARP) BEL 21 MAES, Nikolas (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) NED 22 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) ARG 23 RICHEZE, Maximiliano Ariel (LAMPRE – MERIDA) ESP 24 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) BEL 25 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO BELISOL) NED 26 DE KORT, Koen (GIANT-SHIMANO) NED 27 GESINK, Robert (BELKIN) COL 28 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) COL 29 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) ESP 30 PARDILLA BELLON, Sergio (MTN – QHUBEKA)
General Classification after Stage 5 AUS 1 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) 17:35:05 COL 2 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 13 ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 20 COL 4 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 24 ITA 5 CARUSO, Damiano (CANNONDALE) + 26 COL 6 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) ESP 7 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 29 NED 8 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) + 32 ESP 9 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) NED 10 GESINK, Robert (BELKIN) ESP 11 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 34 AUS 12 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) GBR 13 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 38 FRA 14 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT-SHIMANO) + 39 FRA 15 MONDORY, Lloyd (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 41 POL 16 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 45 ESP 17 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 47 ESP 18 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) IRL 19 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) + 48 ESP 20 PARDILLA BELLON, Sergio (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 49
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