Kaden Groves has won the fifth stage of the Vuelta. In the mass sprint, the Australian was just faster than Filippo Ganna. Remco Evenepoel extended his lead in the general classification by six seconds.
In the hilly stage over the 186 kilometers between Morella and Burriana, everything went according to plan for the sprint teams. Only the lone adventurer Eric Fagúndez escaped from the peloton and built up a lead of more than five minutes.
After 130 kilometres, the Uruguayan was overtaken by the leader of the King of the Mountains classification, Eduardo Sepúlveda, just before the peak of Collado de la Ibola. The Argentinian was the first to the top and is therefore 11 points ahead of Evenepoel in the mountain classification. The South Americans were swallowed up again by the peloton well before the finish.
At 11 kilometers from the finish, six bonus seconds and points for the points jersey were up for grabs. Remco Evenepoel won the sprint there, while the Jumbo-Visma classification men kept their legs still. Kaden Groves finished second in the green jersey and then started again a little later in the mass sprint in Burriana. There he was dropped off perfectly and stayed ahead of Ganna and Van Gestel. A second win in a row for the Australian.
5:38 pm
On the site you can now read everything about the stage and find the entire result. This concludes this live blog. Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
5:32 pm
Grove wins!
Ganna comes second! Van Gestel is third.
5:31 pm
Another 1 kilometer
Groves’ men take over and bounce over the thresholds. Will he take another stage? Van den Berg seems locked up.
5:29 pm
Another 2 kilometers
The men of EF are now ahead of Van den Berg, who himself is around 10th place. One more turn to the right and then there will be a sprint.
5:29 pm
Another 3 kilometers
Fall! At the front of the peloton at a roundabout, a few riders crash. It is on the border of the 3 kilometers. Milan Menten is there and cannot sprint. Kron has also fallen.
5:28 pm
Another 4 kilometers
Evenepoel’s men keep the leader well in front, so that he safely reaches the last three kilometers and does not lose any time. Van den Berg still has two teammates ahead of him.
5:25 pm
Another 7 kilometers
On a wide two-lane road, the peloton hurtles towards Burriana. There are still quite a few roundabouts to go in the city and some sharp bends. Yesterday, Marijn van den Berg, among others, crashed. Will it remain safe today?
5:20 pm
Another 11 kilometers
Evenepoel takes 6 seconds at the intermediate sprint! Groves is second for the points (now 92 points in total, 30 more than number 2 Vendrame) and Jumbo-Visma keeps its legs still.
5:17 pm
Another 13 kilometers
There is another intermediate sprint at 11 kilometers from the finish. From this point to the finish in Burriana it’s all flat.
5:08 PM
Another 21 kilometers
UAE, Jumbo-Visma and Quickstep jointly lead the peloton. There is still relatively calm swinging through the hills and so prepared for a bunch sprint in Nules.
16:44
Another 39 kilometers
Sepúlveda is caught up by the peloton, where preparations are made for a bunch sprint. Can Marijn van den Berg take revenge for yesterday’s fall? Or does anyone dare to jump away?
16:29
Another 53 kilometers
Sepúlveda unloads Fagúndez and takes the 5 mountain points on the Collado de la Ibola. He thus strengthens his lead in the mountains classification.
The virtual mountain classification:
1. Sepulveda – 21
2. Remco Evenepoel – 10
3. Sobrero, Romo & Vingegaard – 6
16:21
Another 56 kilometers
Now two South Americans in flight! The Argentinian Eduardo Sepulveda jumps away from the calm peloton and joins the Uruguayan Fagúndez.
4:05 pm
Another 64 kilometers
Fagúndez’s lead is shrinking quite quickly. Of another 10 kilometers to the peak biggest climb of the day – the Collado de la Ibola – he has 1 minute 48 left. Alpecin-Deceuninck does most of the work in the peloton.
15:42
Another 76 kilometers
The peloton is still not moving extremely, but it is slowly moving towards the Uruguayan man in the lead. With 76 kilometers left on the clock, his lead has decreased to less than three minutes.
Remco Evenepoel defends his red jersey today. View all classifications of the Vuelta here.
15:11
Another 100 kilometers
Fagúndez sees his lead on the pursuers slowly shrink. The peloton now has more than enough three and a half minutes To make up.
2:30 pm
Another 120 kilometers
Nothing has changed. Fagúndez is still leading alone. The lead of the Uruguayan adventure has now increased slightly further 5 minute 20.
14:09
Still 143 kilometers to go
Eric Fagundez has run off. The Uruguayan now has almost 5 minutes ahead of the peloton, which seems to think it’s fine that he went on an adventure.
13:16
Official start
The fifth stage is officially underway. Will there be a leading group immediately or will the riders take it easy? We will see!
13:10
In protest, four wanted to throw oil on the course yesterday. But the Spanish police managed to prevent this. Ultimately, Kaden Groves won the sprint after a chaotic final phase with crashes, in which Marijn van den Berg was also involved.
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