Our riders were among the most active on the hilly 184.4km-long stage 5.
The last Grand Tour of the season returned to Sabiñanigo after 12 years, and just like at the previous visit, a breakaway prevailed. Unlike 2008, this happened after some intense and absolutely relentless first two hours of racing, which saw numerous riders try to book a place at the front. Mattia Cattaneo was the first to try his luck, the Italian sailing clear together with eleven other riders, who surprisingly were kept on a super tight leash by a peloton that travelled at over 52km/h.
As soon as they were brought back, Rémi Cavagna zipped clear and forged out a small gap, but the bunch brought him back. The French ITT Champion didn’t give up and bolted away minutes later, taking one rider with him for company, but despite opening up a 40-second margin, they got reabsorbed with 100 kilometers to go. The pace eventually abated and a three-man move was allowed to snap the elastic and remain at the front until the finish, where Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) claimed the victory.
Neo-pro Andrea Bagioli avoided a crash that took place on a tricky corner inside the last kilometer of stage 5 and remained the best placed rider of Deceuninck – Quick-Step in the overall rankings, in 15th place.
Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images
