Pavel Brutt was the hero of the day on one of the race’s longest stages. On the undulating parcours, Pavel and three others escaped up the road after the day’s categorised climb and stayed out in front for more than 180km of the stage’s 233km. With the group caught by the peloton 7.5km from the stage’s finish in Benevento, a bunch sprint decided the day’s outcome, with Rafal Majka the first Tinkoff rider to finish in 21st position, four seconds behind a small split in the front group but not losing time to the majority of his GC rivals.
The longest stage of the race so far and the second longest as a whole, at 233km, stage 5 was bound to be an exciting day. With an undulating profile that encouraged fast, attacking riding, before a long descent into the finish, the stage would be one for the all-rounders. While it officially had only one categorised climb – the third category Via del Fortino – it came at the very start of the day, and saw riders climbing from the moment the flag was dropped. The remainder of the stage was undulating, but not a climbers’ parcours, meaning anyone had the chance of taking the stage win if they could hold the peloton away on the descent into Benevento and a lap of a 6.5km circuit before the final short, sharp ramp to the finish.
The attack came early in the day, on the descent of the Fortino. A group of four riders – including Tinkoff’s Pavel Brutt – got away 40km out, and while the peloton wasn’t willing to let the attack go, the group of four worked together to quickly build up a gap of more than four minutes. From here, the time gap rose and fell with the undulating parcours, but never dropped below two minutes, and sometimes rose to more than six.
From the finish, Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, was pleased with how the Russian rider had performed. “The day started with a long 3rd category climb, which was going up for about 35km, but the peloton stayed calm on this and then the break went over the top. Pavel did a good job to get in the move there as with the profile today you never know how the race can go. He was there all day and put in a good effort but the teams started pulling behind when the gap was just six minutes so you know then that it’s going to be tough.”
Tinkoff’s leader, Rafal Majka, was quick to praise the huge efforts of his teammates after his mechanical. “When I punctured it took some time to change the wheel, so it was quite nervous but thanks to the extraordinary effort of Boaro and Rovny I managed to close the gap to the bunch and finish safely in the front. We didn’t lose any time today and it was a good day overall in the end, but I spent an immense amount of energy to get back to the leading positions in the group. I would like to thank the guys for their fantastic effort and sacrifice to get me back. They went really hard on the last climb which took its toll but it all worked out. It was great team work from the guys and shows the strong team spirit we have here.”
After a long, tough day in the saddle, the stage was won with a bunch sprint finish, with Rafal the first Tinkoff rider over the line in 21st position – an amazing result after his earlier puncture. “The finish itself was slightly uphill, but there were still sprinters left so it was another one for them. Greipel was really strong today to be there and his team did a good job so chapeau. Rafal stayed in the same time overall which was the goal ahead of tomorrow which will be a tough stage. There’s a long climb in the first 50km, and then another long one to finish. It shouldn’t be super crazy as it’s not that steep but you never know and if Rafal has an opportunity we will see if we can take it.”
Tomorrow’s stage is a significantly smaller distance than today’s, at a comparatively short 157km, but this is by no means an easy one. With the race’s first summit finish, stage 6 is the Giro’s first mountain stage, taking in two second category climbs – the Bocca della Selva and the Roccaraso. With maximum gradients of 10% and 12% respectively, the stage will give the climbers a chance to stretch their legs and make their mark on the race, while the GC riders will aim to either decrease the gaps that formed on the earlier stages, or increase the gap on their rivals.
Stage 5 Result
1. Andre Greipel (GER) Lotto Soudal 05:40:35
2. Arnaud Demare (FRA) FDJ +00:00:00
3. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) Bardiani-CSF +00:00:00
4. Bob Jungels (LUX) Etixx-Quick Step +00:00:00
5. Moreno Hofland (NED) Team Lotto NL-Jumbo +00:00:00
21. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:00:04
59. Pawel Poljanski (POL) Tinkoff +00:00:16
72. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:30
77. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:00:39
79. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:41
83. Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff +00:00:45
100. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +00:01:53
120. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +00:03:16
GC After Stage 5
1. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Team Giant-Alpecin 19:40:48
2. Bob Jungels (LUX) Etixx-Quick Step +00:00:16
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) Lampre-Merida +00:00:20
4. Georg Preidler (AUT) Team Giant-Alpecin +00:00:20
5. Steven Kruiswijk (SWE) Team Lotto NL-Jumbo +00:00:24
