Vuelta a Espana – Stage 5

2015_TickhillGP_Banner

On one of the rare flat stages in the 2015 Vuelta a Espana, the sprinters battled it out for top honours. The stage sees a change at the top of GC too

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Vuelta a Espana – Stage 5

21-year-old Caleb Ewan has won stage five of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana in his debut season and Grand Tour. Ewan capitalised on a perfect lead out by his ORICA-GreenEDGE teammates Mitch Docker, Mathew Hayman and Jens Keukeleire on what was tough uphill drag to the finish line.

In the process, the neo-pro got the better of ten-time Grand Tour stage winner John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and four-time Tour de France stage winner Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo). “This is by far the happiest day in my career,” Ewan said. “To beat some of the best sprinters in the world, especially guys like Sagan and Degenkolb on an uphill finish, it really means a lot to me.”

2015_CalebEwanVuelta

“It’s an honour to race with those guys and to beat them is just unreal for me. It was a super tough finish, but my teammates did an awesome job of getting me to the bottom in front position. I even had time to stop back a few spots and that always makes it easier than trying to move up. If it wasn’t for them, there is no way I could have won today.”

Asked if he thought he could win in his first Grand Tour, the Australian credited the confidence the team have entrusted in him. “To be honest I didn’t know what to expect,” Ewan said. “I hadn’t won a WorldTour race to start with so I always knew it was going to be pretty tough.”

“But my team believed in me and at the end there when they commit 100% for you, you start to believe in yourself as well.

“This was probably the last stage I could go for because I’m not planning on going through the whole Tour. There was a fair bit of pressure because I knew it was my last opportunity but that made me even more determined to do it.”

Sport director Neil Stephens was thrilled by the efforts of his young charge. “The performance was unbelievable stuff,” Stephens said. “But what is also a factor is what’s gone on the past five days. We have had a great leader of the race and 90% of the thought had gone into Esteban Chaves so Caleb had to take a step back as plan B.”

“He is 21 years of age. He dealt with that like a champion and then when he had is one chance, he delivered.”

Unfortunately, the pace in the final saw Colombian Chaves relinquish the red leader’s jersey by just one second to Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin). With a long way still to go before Madrid and some favourable stages to come, Stephens said Chaves is still in a very strong position. “We talked this morning about the possibility in the next couple of days to lose the jersey,” Stephens said.

“We probably didn’t think it would happen today, but we knew we didn’t want to obsess over the jersey just to keep it for an extra day when we have more goals to achieve across the three weeks. It’s been great to have the jersey, we might get it back we might not, but we aren’t done yet.”

The Race
Stage five looked set for a strong sprinter, the relatively flat stage finishing with a technical finale containing a number of roundabouts in the final five kilometres and an uphill drag to the line.

As such, few were willing to put themselves at the front of the race and as a result the breakaway began with one solo rider, Tsgabu Grmay of Lampre-Merida.

Eventually, two others joined him and the group began to ride out to an advantage. As they reached seven minutes, the sprint teams came to the fore – particularly Giant-Alpecin and Cofidis.

The break splinted in the final 20km and Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quickstep) was the final survivor to be swept up with nine kilometres to go.

As the technical final section began, ORICA-GreenEDGE came to the fore led by Hayman. After a long turn, Keukeleire took over before Docker delivered Ewan with absolute perfection in order to contest and win the uphill sprint.

Most Agressive Award for Iljo Keisse
Keisse was part of a three-rider original breakaway, which formed when Keisse and Antoine Duchesne (Europcar) bridged to Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida) inside the first 20 kilometers of the stage.

260815-Tour-of-Spain-Stage-5-Iljo-KEISSE-action-_c_-Tim-De-Waele

Photo: Etixx – Quick-Step/Tim De Waele

The Belgian rider of Etixx – Quick-Step — who shocked the Giro d’Italia peloton with a breakaway victory in the final stage this season — then decided to go solo with 18km left to race. He stayed away until 8.5km remained in the stage, and the peloton then prepared for the bunch arrival with technical final kilometers. Keisse won the award for combativity thanks to his extra effort after a long day out front.

“It’s one of the few stages that suits me,” Keisse said about the 5th Stage. “I’m not a sprinter, so I knew I had to do something else. But of course I knew with three riders it was impossible to stay away. It was one of the only sprint stages, so several teams were going to go full gas for the group arrival”.

“But, you never know. There could be a crash at a key point, the wind can change, or if I have extremely good legs maybe I could do something special. I’ve done it a few times in my career. I’m one of the best examples of there always being a chance, but you have to try to know for sure.”

“But today was extremely difficult. The first rider to attack that eventually led to our breakaway, he went away super early, so he was on his limit and couldn’t contribute as much in the final. It was a hard day for him, and for all of us in the end. When I went solo there was a headwind and the road had a bit of uphill, so it was difficult to keep a good tempo. But I did my best, and am thankful my effort was recognized with the award as Most Aggressive Rider. I will see what I can do if there is another chance in the next days.”

REACTIONS
Peter Sagan (3rd): “I want to thank my teammates – they did a fantastic job for me again to bring me into a good position for the final sprint. It was a technically difficult finish and today I didn’t have the legs to win. I was in a great position but I think that yesterday’s very hard stage, that, looking back, really didn’t suit me, took a lot of energy and I paid the price today”.

“Probably, I tried too hard yesterday but we want to try to take the win everyday even if it looks difficult. Tomorrow, I will try to save myself a bit more. It’s a day for Rafal, who is our leader here, and we will have to work for him. It’s a hard stage, but I will not have to fight for the stage win in the finale”.

Tom Dumoulin (Race leader): “It is a strange feeling to have the red jersey now. I wasn’t expecting it today. Our plan was to help John and my part was to lead the team in the final 2km. In the hecticness of the finale I lost my team mates and just sprinted to make sure I didn’t lose any time”.

“On my way to the bus I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get the stage victory until I suddenly heard that I had the red jersey via my radio. Personally I was disappointed after my crash at the Tour as at the time I had the chance to take the yellow jersey. It took me two weeks to recover and from that moment I was really determined to come back even stronger.”

“We have worked really hard and been very dedicated in training, and the feelings are good. Now I am here in the leader’s jersey and I’m really enjoying it. Before starting the Vuelta the time trial in third week was my main goal, but now I will try to keep the jersey as long as possible and will not give it up without a fight. There are some hard days coming up so we will see.”

RESULTS
1 EWAN Caleb ORICA GreenEDGE 03h 57′ 28”
2 DEGENKOLB John TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN @ 00′ 00”
3 SAGAN Peter TINKOFF – SAXO @ 00′ 00”
4 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre BMC RACING TEAM @ 00′ 00”
5 ROJAS GIL José Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 02”
6 SBARAGLI Kristian MTN – QHUBEKA @ 00′ 02”
7 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 00′ 02”
8 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 02”
9 VAN DER SANDE Tosh LOTTO SOUDAL @ 00′ 02”
10 MAES Nikolas ETIXX – QUICK STEP @ 00′ 02”
11 VAN ASBROECK Tom TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 00′ 02”
12 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY @ 00′ 02”
13 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 00′ 02”
14 DUQUE Leonardo COLOMBIA @ 00′ 02”
15 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN @ 00′ 02”
16 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel BMC RACING TEAM @ 00′ 02”
17 VAN WINDEN Dennis TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 00′ 02”
18 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF – SAXO @ 00′ 02”
19 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 08”
20 STUYVEN Jasper TREK FACTORY RACING @ 00′ 08”
21 CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban ORICA GreenEDGE @ 00′ 08”
22 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY @ 00′ 08”
23 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 08”
24 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis TEAM SKY @ 00′ 08”
25 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 08”

26 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM @ 00′ 08”
27 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 00′ 08”
33 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM @ 01′ 58”
134 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY @ ”
176 CUMMINGS Stephen MTN – QHUBEKA @

OVERALL
1 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN 17h 09′ 06”
2 CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban ORICA GreenEDGE @ 00′ 01”
3 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY @ 00′ 16”
4 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 00′ 25”
5 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 29”
6 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 31”
7 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY @ 00′ 35”
8 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 36”
9 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 37”
10 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 48”
11 LANDA MEANA Mikel ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 52”
12 NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel TEAM SKY @ 00′ 52”
13 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM @ 00′ 56”
14 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 00′ 59”
15 BRAMBILLA Gianluca ETIXX – QUICK STEP @ 01′ 05”
16 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis TEAM SKY @ 01′ 07”
17 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF – SAXO @ 01′ 09”
18 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 01′ 15”
19 CARDOSO MARTINS André Fernando S. TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 01′ 16”
20 MEINTJES Louis MTN – QHUBEKA @ 01′ 31”

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: ,