Vuelta a Espana stage 5 highlights - Video

Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) claimed the biggest win of his career Wednesday at the Vuelta a Espana, surviving from the day-long breakaway to take a solo win at Alcossebre at the end of stage 5. The 24-year-old dropped all of his breakaway companion on the steep final climb, then held off Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) by 42 seconds. Marc Soler (Movistar Team) was third at 56 seconds.

In the general classification, race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) was able to accelerate away from the select GC group at the finish, coming in 4:31 down on the winner but adding important seconds to his lead over rivals Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing), Fabio Aru (Astana), Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) and David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors).

The 175.7km stage from Benicassim to Ermita Santa Lucía included four categorised climbs before the uphill finish in Alcossebre, but the day's profile didn't deter the opportunists. Lutsenko was part of a 16-rider breakaway that went clear in the opening kilometres. He joined Marco Haller (Katusha-Alpecin) off the front on the descent of the Alto de la Serratella with 47km remaining, then dropped Haller at the bottom of the final climb to set up his solo victory.