After two days of uphill finishes, the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España was another chance for the fast men to have a shot at stage victory, but a large crash in the final kilometres saw many riders out of contention. While team leader Alberto Contador managed to stay clear of the carnage, teammate Robert Kiserlovski wasn’t so lucky, coming down heavily. Further updates will follow once medical checks have been made.
With the race all back together, the final 10km looked set for a fast finish, but a small climb in the final saw attacks and disorder at the front of the peloton. The team did a strong job of keeping Alberto at the front of the race, but as the sprinters teams vied for contention, a touch of wheels on a right hand corner saw several riders crash, leaving a small front group to contest the stage win.
“Kiserlovski is going to head to the hospital for some x-rays so we hope he’s OK,” explained Sport Director Steven De Jongh after the stage. “It was a very hectic final after a steady stage. It was raining during the stage and the temperature was down to 19 degrees from 39 yesterday, so that was hard for some guys but the team did a good job again today.
“At the end we tried to put Alberto in position, and they were up there but then I didn’t see what happened but Kiserlovski was involved in the crash while the others had to stop but didn’t crash. We hope for the best and will know more later.”
As soon as the flag was dropped following the neutralised section, two riders broke clear and that was the situation for much of the stage, with the peloton happy to let them push on ahead. They enjoyed up to a 6’30” lead before the bunch gradually upped the pace to reel them back in. Following a split up front, just one rider was left against several teams behind and a sprint was all but assured.
The catch came with just over 10km to race and from here the pace was fast and frantic all the way to the line. The hectic stage finish showed that you cannot switch off at any point during this race as there’s always something around the corner.
Alberto gave his comments on what was a hectic stage finish: “Fortunately, I was able to jump over the leg of a rider that had crashed in front of me. I had enough time to react and jump, so I was able to make it to the finish. Unfortunately, Kiserlovski crashed and I hope it isn’t anything serious. This kind of finish is very dangerous.
“It was an easier day for me because it was a bit uphill, but for the ones that had to sprint it was complicated and in the end there was a crash. Today, even if it seemed it wouldn’t be very hard, it was raining in the first 120 km so the legs got harder. In the end it was an additional effort and I hope this plays into my favour.
“The key today was to stay safe in the final kilometres – we are here to give our best and fight for the GC. It was risky and I have to praise the extraordinary job of the squad, Bennati was incredible.
“I ticked off another day and it is now important to recover. Let’s cross our fingers and hope Kiserlovski didn’t suffer anything serious. In a transition day one would expect a calmer stage but this isn’t the case. We now battle for a second as if it were one minute.
“I still can’t draw any conclusion on my form and we have to think ahead. The Vuelta is long and far from over.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow, De Jongh said: “I think it will be another day like today, with a hectic finish as the roads are quite twisty and narrow. We will look to stay out of trouble and then turn out focus to the mountians.”
Stage 6 takes the riders over a rolling 163.2km parcours, punctuated by a second category ascent that starts after 105km, climbing for 10km. With two more uncategorised climbs before the finish it could be a day for the breakaway or one where the GC riders test each other once again.
Stage Result
1. Gianni Meersman (BEL) Etixx – Quickstep 4:16:42
2. Fabio Felline (ITA) Trek – Segafredo +00:00:00
3. Kévin Réza (FRA) FDJ +00:00:00
4. Luis Leon Sanchez (SPA) Astana +00:00:00
5. Zico Waeytens (BEL) Team Giant-Alpecin +00:00:00
70. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:00
GC After Stage 5
1. Darwin Atapuma (COL) BMC Racing Team 17:39:52
2. Alejandro Valverde (SPA) Movistar +00:00:28
3. Christopher Froome (GBR) Team Sky +00:00:32
13. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:01:52
