Stage 5 - Ciudad Juarez > Ciudad Juarez The final stage of the race is the longest of all, but obviously, it's still a similar profile like the days before. We got four different stage winners so far and with Vanoverschelde as yesterday's best, the GC fight is still wide open: Van Heerden, Salleh, Manninen, Van Hoff and Vanoverschelde are seperated by just 5 seconds and also Thorsen (12secs), Keukeleire (13) and Guarnieri (17) ain't too far behind the podium and Top-5 places. Guarnier however had three disastrous days since his stage win on the opening day and will he now finally show his strength?
We already got used to it and it's the same story again - the first kilometres are quite hectic with a few breakaway attempts not sticking:
#1 - Hussein, Gregaard, Plucinski, M Velits, Schinnagel, Lecourt De Billot, Savickas, Acosta
#2 - Savickas, Daspuntsag, M Velits, Nardin, Brynjolfsson, Anderberg
#3 - Anderberg, Daspuntsag, Nardin, M Velits, Brynjolfsson, Minoungou, Joeaar
That's also the battle for the KoM competition with names like Gregaard (current leader), Anderberg, Daspuntsag or Nardin trying to go clear!
Nardin takes the first mountain sprint with his latest attack, thus putting some pressure on Gregaard, who could not sprint for any points!
M Velits comes 2nd ahead of former KoM-leader Anderberg, who at least adds a single point to his account:
Provisional KoM Gregaard 14, Tivani 10, Nardin 10, Anderberg 10
And Gregaard will actually fear the actual breakaway group, that is formed just out of those latest attacks:
Daspuntsag (5pts) can't win the KoM classification anymore, but he's still a threat for the first three places.. and of course there's Anderberg and Nardin, who can take the polka dot by winning the final mountain sprint of the race!
Anderberg with a strong first intermediate sprint, beating Brynjolfsson and Savickas.. Anderberg also takes the second mountain sprint ahead of Daspuntsag and Nardin! Anderberg adds further bonifications by winnin the last sprint ahead of Nardin and Daspuntsag..
..and that's quite a performance to take the fullfill his most important goal today:
The breakaway won't fight for line honours though, as the usual suspects did their work in the chase: Sauber and cycleYorkshire with a lot of support for their team leaders and the peloton has reeled in the escaping group with now 7km remaining! For the breakaway riders, it's all about staying in the same time (like they all did in every stage here so far)..
The trains are set up with still 3.5km to go and it's the same teams at the front again - Rothaus joining them, too:
Taramarcaz
Hacecky
Manan
Van Heerden
Salleh
Minnard
Vanderaerden
Keukeleire
Manninen
Von Hoff
Ford
Cullaigh
Thorsen
Corti
Rowe
Modolo
Vanoverschelde
Guarnieri
2.3km to go and cycleYorkshire's trio is head-to-head with Manan/Salleh and Hacecky/Van Heerden now..
Von Hoff/Thorsen losing Keukeleires' wheel, but they ain't too far behind at this point..
Habtom now ahead of Guarnieri, who's once again not looking too good early into the sprint!
Manan with the fastest kick once the sprint is launched: Corti/Rowe losing some ground quickly! Just like Hacecky, who's also opening up a small gap between himself and Van Heerden!
Vanderaerden/Modolo and Vanoverschelde jumping behind a fast Salleh.. Keukeleire/Von Hoff catch up to Van Heerden, who hasn't launched his finishig kick yet..
Manninen/Thorsen now behind Rowe, who also struggle to keep his leadout's wheel though! And Kruopis has moved forward - easily going past Guarnieri/Habtom!
Manan leads his captain into the final kilometre, where Vanderaerden is now pushing to go past Salleh! Modolo not far behind with Vanoverschelde and Corti trying to hang on!
Rowe could not stay with his final leadout (again) and so there's already a gap between Corti and the remaining sprinters: Manninen, Rowe, Keukeleire, Von Hoff and Kruopis will need to deliver a very fast finish to stay in contention for today's Top-5!
Modolo now indeed moving forward to join Salleh and Vaneraerden! Also Vanoverschelde with a great sprint again and while Manan has done his work to drop behind, there's Corti almost catching up to Modolo's wheel!
Van Heerden finally reaching his top speed as well and he's at least fighting for a possible Top-5 result - with Keukeleire and Von Hoff as the strongest opponents at this point. Manninen/Thorsen, Rowe and Kruopis behind them.. Van Heerden really needs to push for as many bonifications as possible, since Salleh is a real threat for the GC now!
It's Vanderaerden with a narrow lead now though! Salleh ahead of Modolo now, with Corti probably too far behind to fight for a podium result.. Vanoverschelde struggles to hang on, but Van Heerden/Keukeleire/Von Hoff may be to far behind to go past him..
Vanderaerden wins the final stage and will definitely improve in the GC that way! Five different winners in five days here..
In a photo-finish, Salleh beats Modolo for a crucial 2nd place! His team's work seems to pay off on those final days here in Mexico, as he will obviously gain seconds on the GC leader that way..
Corti with a strong 4th place then..
Van Heerden actually went past Vanoverschelde on the very final metres to take a 5th place eventually! With Salleh finishing 2nd, this may not be enought to defend yellow though..
Keukeleire with another solid result as 7th ahead of Von Hoff, Manninen and Thorsen, who gets yet another Top-10 result!
Guarnieri though disappoints once again, finishing 12th behind Rowe and just ahead of Kruopis and Manan.. he had a pretty fast finish eventually, but his lack of positioning and... interest (?) to launch his sprint in time.. it's just a shocking performance since his win on the opening day..
Vanderaerden celebrating his stage win and awaiting his final position in the GC then..
Salleh is the crowned Circulo de Juarez champion in 2018! After finishing a rather unlucky 3rd last year (with just one second lost on Castaneda as the overall winner and Haller finishing 2nd with the same time as Salleh), that's surely a great way to come back here. His consistent performances in the final three stages made him go past them all and he eventually takes the GC by 8 seconds on the runner-up..
..that is Van Heerden! A strong result nevertheless, even though he could not win a single stage here. But he's been one of the most consistent sprinters in those five days and definitely deserves a podium in the GC!
Vanderaerden completing the podium ahead of Vanoverschelde! That's actually three guys with a lack of acceleration finishing from 2nd to 4th in the final GC. They still delivered good results and the Van's had both one stage-win each.
Manninen completes the Top-5 ahead of Von Hoff, Modolo, Keukeleire, Thorsen and Guarnieri has to settle for a 10th place eventually. Still a solid result for Manninen, who struggled on the final couple of days though. Von Hoff might have hoped for a Top-5 after his stage win, but it's still a good overall result for the Aussie. The same goes for Modolo, who really did well against this competition. Keukeleire with an unspectacular 8th place, but at least one of the most consistent Top-10 performers. Just like Thorsen.
Corti 11th ahead of Kruopis, Rowe, King (who had just one good day though) and Manan as 15th.. Kulppi the first breakaway rider on 16th - ahead of Nardin and an Azteca trio (Anderberg, Tivani, Powless) completing the Top-20.
Salleh also winning the points classification by just 2pts on Van Heerden and more than 10pts ahead of Manninen as 3rd..
A great day for Anderberg, who does not only take the KoM classification but also the U25 competition thanks to those bonifications today! With Azteca not having any competitive sprinter here, it's definitely a great result to come away with three low Top-20s in the GC and two jerseys!
Sauber Petronas Racing adds more points through the team's classification victory!
