Tirreno-Adriatico: Quintana wins stage 5 in Terminillo

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) took a snow-capped victory on the Queen Stage of Tirreno-Adriatico ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing). Quintana launched a stinging attack with five kilometres remaining to take the win and the lead in the overall classification. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) finished third after making a late comeback.

Blue jersey Wout Poels (Team Sky) lost over one and a half minutes on the winner, and was forced to hand over the lead of the general classification as he slipped down the standings.

The snow fell heavy on the riders as they made their way up the final, challenging ascent to Terminillo. The main group had already been trimmed down to the elite over the previous three climbs and the pace set by Team Sky and Tinkoff-Saxo only served to reduce it further. The two teams traded blows on the climb but neither made a significant move, waiting until they were closer to the line to strike out.

"It was a very fast stage, difficult to handle, especially with the cold conditions, but thanks to my team, who supported me all the way, always helping out, I could reach the final climb with the energy I needed and take my tactics to fruition with that final attack." Quintana said. 

Quintana was the one who finally took the initiative with five kilometres remaining. The Colombian moved out to the left-hand side of the road before glancing over his shoulder at his rivals. Satisfied that they were nearer the limit than he, Quintana put in a dig to distance the group. Alberto Contador (Tinoff-Saxo) tried to follow but he seemed to be missing his usual strength. Only Mollema could get close, the Dutchman going off the front after a number of small attacks from Contador.

"There was an instant, with 5km to go, when I saw myself feeling especially well, looked around and couldn't see anyone showing strong enough to follow me," Quintana said. "I jumped away in those two occassions, I saw no one could follow me and kept pushing until the very end. There's still one long road stage on our way - let's hope we don't come across any difficulties there, so we can fight into the TT to defend this jersey."

Quintana now leads the general classification by 39 seconds over Mollema with Rigoberto Urán a further nine seconds back in third place.

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How it happened

Warm clothing was the order of the day for the Queen Stage of Tirreno-Adriatico with the temperatures dropping to zero and with snow predicted at the finish, some riders may have been looking for their winter tyres. The 194-kilometre stage brought the peloton over four classified climbs, including the summit finish at Terminillo.

There was talk that the stage might be cancelled but RCS where quick to deny that when asked by Cyclingnews. Wout Poels (Team Sky) became the third rider to wear the blue jersey after an opportunist attack on the final climb of stage four resulted in a stage win for the Dutchman, with Rigoberto Urán (Etixx-QuickStep) looming close behind him. He would be down one man though, with Elia Viviani choosing to head home to recover from the crash he suffered earlier in the race.

A strong group of eight riders moved away early on in the stage consisting of Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Michele Scarponi (Astana), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Matteo Monteguti (AG2R), Andriy Grivko (Astana), Paul Voss (Bora-Argon18), Angel Vicioso (Katusha) and Jesus Herrada (Movistar). After 60 kilometres the escapees had built up an advantage of 7:12 on the peloton.

Knowing what the weather had in store for them later in the day, the main bunch were all too happy to take it easier and give the leaders plenty of room out front. They had cleared the first two big mountains before they began a concerted effort to bring back the leaders, and by the time they had reached the foot of the climb to Terminillo it had been cut to less than two minutes.

Only the strongest remained, and riders began to drop out of the front group in quick succession. Grivko was one of the first to go as the road began going upwards, after putting his efforts into helping Scarponi save energy. Monteguti decided he’d had enough and went off the front but had a scary moment as his rear wheel slipped out on a corner put a stop to that. He managed to stay on his wheels but he too was shelled out the back.

His move, though, did spark a flurry of action in the break and Scarponi, De Marchi and Monfort broke free. Both De Marchi and Monfort briefly lost touch but the three knew they were stronger together and quickly regrouped. Scarponi definitely looked the strongest of the escapees – fortunately for Astana as Vincenzo Nibali struggled at the back of the peloton – and he soon found himself alone again.

Behind, Sky and Tinkoff-Saxo were putting in the effort to bring them back with Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) and Ivan Basso (Tinkoff-Saxo) put to work. With just 6.7 kilometres to go, Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) brought his leader Alberto Contador to the front, pulling out a small gap and exposing a tired Kiryienka.

The snow began to fall on the riders as they entered the final five kilometres. Through the snow, Quintana (Movistar) made the first big move of the race favourites. The Colombian made a brief glance over his shoulder to assess the state of his rivals before shooting up the left-hand side of the road. Contador quickly responded, bringing a group of around 15 riders with him, including the blue jersey Poels, but Quintana had already built a substantial gap.

Quintana’s move also spelled the end of Nibali who had no answer for the move. He quickly dispatched with Scarponi too, as he edged out his advantage to 40 seconds over the blue jersey group.

A frustrated Contador made a series attacks behind Quintana, eager to shake the riders on his wheel who were all happy to let the defending champion to do the work. Try as he might, he couldn’t get rid and it came to Rigoberto Urán (Etixx-QuickStep) and Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing) to have a go.

Mollema’s was the one that snapped the elastic and he charged after Quintana alone. A group of four came after him, including Contador who still looked like he was struggling. Not one to show any weakness though, he continued to drive the pace of his group but Quintana was too far up the road and the Colombian stormed to his first win of the season.

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