2019 Giro d’Italia: Stage 5 Results

Stage 5 of the 2019 Giro d’Italia was a relatively short 140km stage from Frascati to Terracina that ended up being characterized by weather and some high profile dropouts.

2017 Giro champion Tom Dumoulin dropped out of the race after riding giving it a go in the neutralized zone this morning. He was suffering from a knee injury sustained in yesterday’s stage that forced him to finish well out of contention.

The day was also shaken up by news that Vincenzo Nibali’s teammate Kristijan Koren did not start today’s stage. Koren was named in the blood doping ring uncovered by Operation Aderlass and has been provisionally suspended by the UCI along with Bahrain-Merida director Borut Bozic. Also implicated were UAE Team Emirates’ Kristijan Durasek and former pro Alessandro Petacchi.

Despite the heavy rain, an early breakaway formed with Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Louis Vervaeke (Team Sunweb), Umberto Orsini (Bardiani-CSF), Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Ivan Santaromita (Nippo Vini Fantini-Faizane) and Miguel Florez (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec). None of these riders are a threat to Roglic’s lead. Vervaeke is the best-placed of the five, in 75th place, 6:07 down.

Because of the weather, race organizers made an early decision to take finish times from the first passage of the line in Terracina:

“Given the weather conditions, the race organisation, in agreement with jury of commissaires, has decided that times will be taken on the first passage of the finish line in Terracina. Points and time bonuses will awarded at the stage finish #Giro”  — Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 15, 2019

Louis Vervaeke went out alone at the 53km mark and soon after, his remaining breakaway compatriots rejoined the peloton. Vervaeke rode on with a 1’20” lead over the bunch.

Vervaeke gets caught with about 23km remaining. Despite the catch, the peloton is moving along at a relatively calm 40km/h pace.

Jumbo-Visma, FDJ, QuickStep, Androni and Movistar were making their presence known at the front of the peloton.

The peloton crosses the finish for the first time at the 9km mark, recording their times, leaving the sprinters to contest for points at the actual finish. Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Pascal Ackermann (Bora), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) will be looking to make a mark.

In the end, it was Ackermann for his second stage win in this year’s race. Ackermann had to briefly pause his sprint for a surging Gaviria, but he was able to hook onto the Italian’s wheel before going past at the line.

Stage 5 Brief Results:

1. Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) 3h27’05”
2. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
3. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) s.t.
4. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) s.t.
5. Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
6. Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data) s.t.
7. Paolo Simion (Bardiani CSF) s.t.
8. Jenthe Biermans (Katusha-Alpecin) s.t.
9. Giovanni Lonardi (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) s.t.
10. Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) s.t.

General Classification After Stage 5:

1. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma at 19h46’25”
2. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) at 35″
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) at 39″
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) at 44″
5. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
6. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 49″
7. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) at 55″
8. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida) at 56″
9. Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 1’02”
10. Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 1’06”

Jerseys:

• Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma)
• Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo – Pascal Ackermann (Bora – Hansgrohe)
• Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Giulio Ciccone (Trek – Segafredo)
• Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Eurospin – Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team)