Stage 5 contains lots of short, steep hills that will surely eliminate the sprinters, as fell as three very tough categorised climbs that are each around 3km long and average at over 9%.
There are no surprises when a Slipstream rider launches the attacks, and today it is Bajadali. He is joined by Machac, Tankink, Gilbert and Kilun. Bajadali takes an uncontested intermediate sprint, right before the first of the 3 big tests of the stage.
The lead peaks at nearly 14 minutes before the pack start to chase.
Bram Tankink is obviously the stronger of the 3 and rides away from his companions.
There are just 2 big sprinters left in the peleton: Grillo and Richeze, and their teammates (along with some Marco Polo riders) close the gap in on the exhausted escapees.
Jesus del Nero leads Richeze and Grillo away from the bunch for the sprint as they pass Kilun and Bajadali.
Del Nero gives Richeze a great postion and Richeze has a chance of catching Tankink and giving Agritubel their 3rd stage win in a row, but no!
Richeze doesnt have the legs and is sprinting backwards. Del Nero doesnt have the pace and Grillo isnt strong enough, so Bram Tankink is victorious!
