Hello and welcome to stage 5 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. Today is a day for the sprinters. This stage would be more exciting if it was reversed. However, we have not yet had a quiet day here in Gabon, so who knows. The riders are ready to go. All hilly stages were won by Continental teams, while the only flat stage so far went to a World Tour team.




Straight from the start it is the leader of the KoM Classification, Geslin (Cofidis), who attacks. He is looking for more points to take home his jersey. He is followed by Kiendys (CCC), Marentes (Colombia) and Ravard (AG2R).



Another 8 riders attack, while Marentes has to drop from the leading group and he joins the chasing group. They are 30 seconds behind the 3 leaders. The peloton is 1 and a half minute behind the leaders, but Caja Rural, MTN-Qhubeka and Sky have come to the front to reel this big group back in.



We have reached the first intermediate sprint with a lead group of 7 riders. The original 3 leaders have been joined by Malacarne (Bretagne), Florencio (Euskaltel), Slagter (Belkin) and Jones (UnitedHealthcare). The peloton follows at 3 minutes.

Sprint 1:
1. Malacarne (Bretagne) - 6 points
2. Florencio (Euskaltel) - 4 points
3. Slagter (Belkin) - 2 points




The first KoM sprint of today's stage goes to Slagter. Geslin did not bother to try and get some points. He might be saving his energy for the 2nd one. The peloton is at 5 minutes now.

KoM 1:
1. Slagter (Belkin) - 5 points
2. Florencio (Euskaltel) - 3 points
3. Ravard (AG2R) - 1 point




Jones has won the 2nd KoM sprint, with Slagter coming 2nd. Geslin comes 3rd and can keep his jersey for at least 1 more day. In the meanwhile, the peloton has started chasing after giving the breakaway a maximum lead of 6 minutes. Malacarne has not returned at the front after the KoM sprint and will be absorbed by the peloton soon. The weather has changed for the worse, it is raining heavily now with a lot of wind.

KoM 2:
1. Jones (UnitedHealthcare) - 5 points
2. Slagter (Belkin) - 3 points
3. Geslin (Cofidis) - 1 point



We have reached the 2nd intermediate sprint. None of the riders care about this and Ravard crosses the line first. The peloton has cut the gap in half and is now 3 minutes behind the leaders.

Sprint 2:
1. Ravard (AG2R) - 6 points
2. Jones (UnitedHealthcare) - 4 points
3. Geslin (Cofidis) - 2 points



It has been a real sprinters stage so far. Nothing of note is happening as we pass the 3rd intermediate sprint, where Slagter crosses the line first. The peloton, which is led by Caja Rural, is following at 2 minutes.

Sprint 3:
1. Slagter (Belkin) - 6 points
2. Kiendys (CCC) - 4 points
3. Ravard (AG2R) - 2 points




This will most likely be the last we see of the breakaway today at the front as the go through the final intermediate sprint. The peloton comes through 1 minute later. We have heard that Dowsett (Colombia) has abandoned. We do not know why though as there has not been a crash today. After the intermediate sprint we take a turn left and there might a chance to cause some trouble with echelons.

Sprint 4:
1. Florencio (Euskaltel) - 6 points
2. Kiendys (CCC) - 4 points
3. Slagter (Belkin) - 2 points




Caja Rural and MTN-Qhubeka are chasing the breakaway. While doing this, they are causing trouble at the back of the peloton, as the wind seems to be strong enough to create echelons. All teams will be trying to get their leaders to the front as quick as possible now.




We have turned away from the crosswinds and no favourites have been caught out. Around 70 riders are dropped though during those few windy kilometers.




With 10 kilometers to the finish line, a drama unfolds for the home team MTN-Qhubeka. Both sprinter Abundi and 4th in GC Augustyn can't follow the pace of Caja Rural. The whole team has dropped to help them back to the front, but it remains to be seen if they can get back in time. Colombia is having a hard time too. Sprinter Harrini and 10th in GC Bernard can't follow the peloton. These last kilometers are causing serious problems for some teams.




Only 5 km remaining and Caja Rural is having problems catching the remaining 4 breakaway riders. They have a lead of 57 seconds over the 42 rider peloton. MTN-Qhubeka and the 2 Colombia riders are a minute behind the peloton. Slagter does not like his chances in a 4-man sprint and goes solo. He has a 15 second gap now, while the peloton does not seem to get any closer.




With a lot of effort Geslin closes the gap to Slagter and these 2 will be fighting it out for the win here. Geslin has the better sprint, but he might have used a lot of energy to get to Slagter's wheel.




Slagter and Geslin do not seem to have the energy for a proper sprint. If it goes on like this Slagter is going to win here. Ravard and Florencio are about to be caught by the sprinting peloton.




Another victory for the breakaway, as Slagter wins the 5th stage in Gabon. His team will be happy after they struggled a bit in the previous stages. Geslin finishes just behind him in 2nd.


Roelandts wins the sprint for the 3rd place, beating Martinez Machado and Verboven to the line.

Today's stage will be a big disappointment for home team MTN-Qhubeka. Augustyn and the rest of his team finish 2 minutes later and he drops to 10th in the GC. Also in this group are Harrini and Bernard. Colombia will not be happy to see Bernard drop out of the GC top 10.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Tom Slagter	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	4h19'10
2	Anthony Geslin	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
3	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
4	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.
5	Rudy Verboven	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	s.t.
7	Carlo Calzone	Movistar Team	s.t.
8	Anthony Ravard	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
9	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Mangere Kaha	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	15h42'25
2	Delio Fernández	Team Champion System	+ 2'03
3	Sergio Henao	Sky Procycling	+ 2'28
4	Delfi Cervero	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 3'06
5	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	+ 3'09
6	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 3'11
7	Rudy Verboven	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 3'29
8	Jorge Cristobal Riquelme	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 3'31
9	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'17
10	John-Lee Augustyn	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 4'52

Rank	Name	Team	Points	General
1	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	14	59
2	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	10	53
3	Tom Slagter	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	33	41

Rank	Name	Team	Mountain	General
1	Anthony Geslin	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	1	11
2	Tom Slagter	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	10	10
3	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	0	8

Young rider: Heimdal Hägg
Team: Sky Procycling

Please don't hate me...

Great win fromt he boys, Slagter making up for his lackluster performances earlier. GC Top 10 also looks to be in the bag, so this race is good enough for us

Phew, a very eventful stage indeed. Glad Hägg is still in the leader's jersey. The last two stages won't be easy.

Calzone & Movistar very, very quiet today. I hope he just had a bad day.

Yay

How are all flat stages this windy?!

Anyway still in the GC top-10, just hadn't expected to drop this far...

As a reminder, people who have not sent a correct PM by tomorrow morning, will be given randomised startlists.

Fernandez staying in 2nd is all I asked for, so I'm happy again.

Alinejad is not really scoring anything, but at least he finished in the first group this time and tried to compete in the sprint. 14th isn't that bad considering who he is sprinting against.

All three custom riders dropped, that's pretty awkward. Especially Kusnezov should have been able to stay in front and help the peloton catch these breakaway guys...

A little disappointed losing to Ravard and Rojas in the sprint, but he's still only 21 years old The team have been very unlucky in the race, even though we've been active every stage, 4 breakaways and 1 stage hunt from Schneider is activity enough to please me though

Great report mvh

Another good day for me.

We continue to have Euskaltel in the break every day while Verboven avoids getting caught the wrong place - dare I hope it's his greater experience compared to last year?
A stage 5th is also a nice bonus on a day where more people left the GC battle...

Seeing Hägg continue to defend his lead is brilliant, but I must say that I hope Augustyn won't drop any further. MTN should get a decen GC here by right.

Stupid break

Martinez Machado with another strong performance. Delfi now up to 4th in the GC.

He's just saving his energy for the last stages.

Was mine correct?

Asking as well , was mine correct?

If something was wrong, you got a PM back

So, sorry to be 'that guy' but what the hell happened to this?



It would be nice to have some more racing soon.

My attempt at a preview didn't go so well. .Will start racing tonight, definitely, no matter what happens, might not have much of a preview though, I'll put together a little one.

But, but it's kinda an unwritten rule, to make an preview before a race

No it's not. Especially if it delays race reports.

RMM continues to ride well, close to jumping into top 4 on GC which would be great