After yesterday’s TTT stage it was SEE Turtles getting into the driver's seat in the general classification as we’re heading to the climax of the Olympia’s Tour. Today it will be perhaps the last chance for the sprinters to win. Stage 5 will begin in Kampen and finish in Tilburg. And let’s see what the pre-race panel has to say.
John Degenkolb is yet again penciled in as the top pick, but so far he hadn’t met the expectations placed upon him. Yoeri Havik on the other hand did - winning Stage 3 beating Waersted from Tafjord. The Norwegian, who will be looking to defend his green jersey, shockingly isn’t among the Top 10 picks today, but perhaps it’s for the best for him. Gabriel Marin is right behind him in the standings, but the panel gives him minimal chances as well and he may also look to prove doubters wrong. But now, we’re heading over to Kampen to give you coverage of the 5th stage of Olympia’s Tour - the penultimate stage.
It’s once again great day as we are ready for the start of the stage - 191 km from Kampen to Tilburg. There are 4 intermediate sprint checkpoints.
Skilvid from Saeco and McGill had initiated the first attack of the stage early on.
Carlos Barbero, who had been in the break the last two times, is trying to join the two.
Some riders tried to break from the peloton, but were immediately caught. One, however managed to slip away - Goossens from Team Würth MODYF
The Belgian eventually caught up with the leading trio heading to the first intermediate sprint at Dronten
And Goossens beats Barbero and McGill at the checkpoint. The gap is over 3 and a half minutes
SEE Turtles is currently in front of the peloton, maintaining the pace.
Almere is the next sprint checkpoint and is won by Goossens once again. The gap to the peloton is nearing the 5 minute mark halfway through the stage
We see a lot of other teams like Tafjord, Gjensidige, Hilcona and Air New Zealand joining the front of the peloton as they try to cut down the breakaway’s gap before entering Tilburg.
With 45 km to go the gap the break now possesses is less than 3 minutes.
And Goossens is again first in the intermediate sprint checkpoint. There’s gonna be another sprint checkpoint some 17 km later, but by then the break might be caught
At the peloton we see some riders unable to keep up with the high pace at the front. Among them is Domenic Weinstein. They do got back in the peloton eventually
Only to split once again. And this time there are even bigger gaps. Knotten (2nd in the young riders standings) and Predatsch (16th in the general standings) are among the biggest casualties. Some eventually came back, but others weren’t so lucky
The break is still hanging on as Goossens takes a clean sweep of intermediate stage wins. Barbero takes second once again.
And that’s it for the break with 8 km to go. Once again the stage will end in a mass sprint. The peloton however is more compact than usual - only 45 riders survived the onslaught.
And the sprint had just started as we have familiar faces fighting for the stage glory.
And the win is for Dan McLay - the difference between this stage and the TTT yesterday for Saeco is like night and day. Rojus will lift Gjesidinge’s spirits up following the dreadful TTT with second. Jay Major continues the really good tour for TheManxiMissile and Podium Ambition with 3rd. Syver Waersted finishes 6th behind Alexander Kreiger and Gabriel Marin (who once again gives Manda-Coyote a reason to be joyful), but we think that he’s keeping the green jersey.
As the remaining riders arrive, Nur Aiman Zariff is 7th, while the top favorite in all of the sprint stages - Degenkolb, is 10th behind Atsushi Oka and Emils Liepins.
As more and more riders arrive, Van Moer is 19th while race leader Hamza is 20th. Stage 3 winner - Havik, is outside Top 20
And the hero of the day is Dan McLay. Yesterday, Saeco were one of the bottom teams - now, they’re on the top.
Faycal Hamza keeps the yellow jersey. Only Belvecis and Van Moer do not rider for either SEE Turtles or Podium Ambition in Top 10
Waersted keeps the green jersey and is doubtful that he could be toppled out.
Bert Van Moer keeps the white jersey, but it is now unlikely to fight for the overall win
And SEE Turtles lead in the teams standings, but the gap ahead of Podium Ambition is fragile
And that concludes our coverage of Stage 5 - join us tomorrow for the decisive final stage which will be a relatively short TT and will be a final chance for the favorites to challenge for the Top 3 places. Goodbye for now
