photo credit @ Twitter
Amidst snow and ice conditions, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) emerged victorious atop the Monte Terminillo, after winning stage 5 of this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico today.
The Colombian rider managed to surge ahead of his chase companions, and catch and pass what remained of today’s breakaway group, to not only claim the stage win, but takeover the overall race lead as well.
“I’m very happy. Getting the first win of the year in this way fills me with hope,” said Quintana. “It was a very fast, difficult stage, especially with how cold it was. But thanks to my team, which was always close to me, helping me, I could reach the final climb with the necessary strength and execute my tactic with that final attack.”
Race Highlights
With just 11 kilometers remaining in today’s 194 kilometer stage from Esanatoglia to Monte Terminillo, a small breakaway group containing Michele Scarponi (Astana), Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Soudal) and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing), was still holding onto a slight gap over the peloton.
Scarponi was the first rider to attack his fellow breakaway companions, subsequently opening up a slight gap, However, De Marchi countered – ultimately making contact with the Italian rider, while Monfort was soon able to rejoin them as well.
As the race entered into the final 7 kilometers, back in he peloton, Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) initiated an attack of his own. However, Mikel Nieve (Sky) was quick to shut down his attempt at getting away. From there, Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick-Step) took over the pacesetting for a bit.
Back up front, Monfort once again lost contact, followed by De Marchi – leaving Scarponi out front alone.
However, with less than 5 kilometers remaining, Quintana executed a bold acceleration, that caught most of his chase companions off-guard. Contador in turn tried to follow, but ultimately relented and fell back into the chase.
In the meantime, Quintana succeeded in catching and passing the escapees, while Thibault Pinot (FDJ) and Uran tried to follow his move.
Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing) was next to try his luck, ultimately catching and shooting clear of Scarponi and company into second place.
With 2 kilometers remaining, Quintana continued out front alone, racing his way through snow and ice – to eventually seize the stage victory.
Meanwhile, Mollema followed up in second place at 41 seconds back, while Joaquin Rodriguez rounded out the podium in third spot, a further 14 sends back.
Stage 5 Results
COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 5:26:03 NED 2 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 41 ESP 3 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 55 COL 4 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) ESP 5 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF – SAXO) FRA 6 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ) GBR 7 YATES, Adam (ORICA GreenEDGE) ITA 8 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) POL 9 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 1:05 ITA 10 CARUSO, Damiano (BMC RACING) + 1:10 GBR 11 CUMMINGS, Stephen (MTN – QHUBEKA) CZE 12 KREUZIGER, Roman (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 1:12 BEL 13 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO SOUDAL) ITA 14 CARUSO, Giampaolo (KATUSHA) + 1:30 ESP 15 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) + 1:37 NED 16 POELS, Wouter (SKY) COL 17 SERPA PEREZ, Jose Rodolfo (LAMPRE – MERIDA) ITA 18 SCARPONI, Michele (ASTANA) ESP 19 LOSADA ALGUACIL, Alberto (KATUSHA) + 1:50 ESP 20 CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS, Jonathan (MOVISTAR) + 2:08 BLR 21 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin (SKY) + 2:15 ITA 22 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) + 2:16 ITA 23 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 2:23 ITA 24 SANTAROMITA, Ivan (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 2:34 FRA 25 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SUI 26 REICHENBACH, Sébastien (IAM CYCLING) IRL 27 MARTIN, Daniel (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) ITA 28 VISCONTI, Giovanni (MOVISTAR) + 2:43 RSA 29 MEINTJES, Louis (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 2:44 COL 30 CANO ARDILA, Alex (COLOMBIA) BEL 31 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 2:47 FRA 32 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 3:35 POR 33 PIMENTA COSTA MENDES, José Joao (BORA-ARGON 18) + 4:31 ITA 34 FORMOLO, Davide (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 5:08 FRA 35 MEDEREL, Maxime (EUROPCAR) SUI 36 MORABITO, Steve (FDJ) + 7:15 ITA 37 MONTAGUTI, Matteo (AG2R LA MONDIALE) CZE 38 KONIG, Leopold (SKY) ITA 39 DE MARCHI, Alessandro (BMC RACING) + 7:43 ITA 40 SALERNO, Cristiano (BORA-ARGON 18) + 8:38
General Classification after Stage 5 COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 19:54:45 NED 2 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 39 COL 3 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 48 FRA 4 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ) + 57 ESP 5 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 1:03 GBR 6 YATES, Adam (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 1:04 ITA 7 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:06 ESP 8 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 1:07 GBR 9 CUMMINGS, Stephen (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 1:12 NED 10 POELS, Wouter (SKY) + 1:13
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