Valverde wins Volta a Catalunya stage 5

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Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) claimed his second stage win of the Volta a Catalunya, attacking the select group of favourites who had distanced race leader Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) and soloing to the win over the final 3km.

Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quickstep) took second on the stage, gaining important time bonuses, while Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) denied Richie Porte the final bonus in third. Porte could be consoled by taking over the race lead by five seconds over Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale). Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) is in third overall at seven seconds.

The race was blown apart in strong crosswinds, leaving only a select front group of favourites after the final climb with 10km to go. Not among them was De Clercq, who ran into trouble when the echelons formed 40km earlier.

“It was a really beautiful day for all of us," Valverde said. "We knew there was going to be some wind in the finale, the whole team was attentive and always riding on the front and we decided to accelerate. We were able to make the gap, leave De Clercq and Martin behind, and also cooperated well with the other teams, since we all had an interest to leave the rivals behind - we really pushed at 100 percent."

Once the selection was made after the climb, Valverde set off in search of the time he lost on stage 3 when he was caught up in a crash that split the field. "Seeing that we're 16 seconds behind, that time we lost in Girona is awful for us," he said. "Moreover, the crash did change things completely: it wasn't a hard blow at all, but every time you suffer a crash, you feel in pain when you wake up the following that, and combined with all the efforts into the mountain stage and me suffering with cold into the Creueta descent... all of that made me reach La Molina not in the best condition I'd have wished. Still, I think I'm doing a pretty good work in this Volta, as well myself as the whole team, and we're really happy."

While stage 6 on Saturday is likely a day for the sprinters, the final stage in Barcelona with eight trips over the Alt de Montjuïc can prove tricky. "Let's see what happens until Sunday in Montjuïc. We already did great and we'll fight for what it's left. The GC is close, we're pretty much equal when it comes to energy and even the bonus seconds might be key."

How it unfolded

A large group escaped the field on the run out of Alp, just 5km into the 195.4km stage to Valls. It included Martin Elmiger (IAM), Jan Polanc (Lampre), Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge), Lawson Craddock (Giant-Alpecin), Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing), Luis Mas (Caja Rural), Florian Vachon (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC), Romain Hardy, Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and Marinus Minnaard (Wanty Groupe Gobert), and soon added Anton Vorobyev (Katusha).

The Russian's presence seemed to tip the balance toward the field, and the group was caught and the race was all back together for the first sprint of the day, with Lotto Soudal's Boris Vallee and Greg Henderson leading the bunch across the line as they tried to protect race leader de Clercq.

It wasn't until after the sprint that a group could then go clear, and it was Jan Polanc (Lampre), Calvin Watson (Trek) and Yohan Bagot (Cofidis) who had the honours.

Their lead maxed out at five minutes at the second sprint at kilometer 103.4, but drama was soon to unfold behind as strong crosswinds began to blow.

Katusha, Tinkoff-Saxo, Movistar, Sky and Etixx-Quick Step all made the front chase group as the peloton fractured into echelons. De Clercq was not among the group of favourites with Porte, Contador and Uran, and Sky made sure he stayed behind and in the process swept past the three previous leaders. Also missing out on the break was Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), whose podium hopes would vanish in the breeze.

On the day's sole climb, the category 2 Alt de Lilla, the leading group split further thanks to an injection of pace from the pre-race favourites. Nine riders emerged at the front: Valverde, Uran, Porte, Contador, Fabio Aru (Astana) and teammate Tiralongo, Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r), Rafael Valls (Lampre) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC).

As they hurtled downhill toward the finish, there was a brief hesitation and Valverde took advantage of the opportunity to attack ahead of a series of roundabouts that helped to slow the chase. He was able to hold onto his gap of five seconds and celebrate the victory, which he dedicated to former teammate Xavier Tondo, who died in 2011, and Pablo Lastras, who broke his pelvis in a crash on stage 4.

"Every time we come to the Volta a Catalunya we always remember Xavi a lot; we always do, in every race, and every victory we achieve, though we don't always say it, is for him," Valverde said. "We also remember Pablo, after his crash yesterday. Let this victory serve so we can remind him we're by his side, giving every bit of energy on the road to make him happy - this is also for you."

Full Results

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) claimed his second stage win of the Volta a Catalunya, attacking the select group of favourites who had distanced the race leader Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) and soloing to the win over the final 3km.

Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quickstep) took second on the stage, gaining important time bonuses, while Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) denied Richie Porte the final bonus in third. Porte could be consoled by taking over the race lead by five seconds over Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale). Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) is in third overall at seven seconds.

The race was blown apart in strong crosswinds, leaving only a select front group of favourites after the final climb with 10km to go, not among them was De Clercq, who ran into trouble when the echelons formed 40km earlier.

“It was a really beautiful day for all of us. We knew there was going to be some wind in the finale, the whole team was attentive and always riding on the front and we decided to accelerate," Valverde said. "We were able to make the gap, leave De Clercq and Martin behind, and also cooperated well with the other teams, since we all had an interest to leave the rivals behind - we really pushed at 100%."

Once the selection was made after the climb, Valverde set off in search of the time he lost on stage 3 when he was caught up in a crash that split the field. "Seeing that we're 16 seconds behind, that time we lost in Girona is awful for us," he said. "Moreover, the crash did change things completely: it wasn't a hard blow at all, but every time you suffer a crash, you feel in pain when you wake up the following that, and combined with all the efforts into the mountain stage and me suffering with cold into the Creueta descent... all of that made me reach La Molina not in the best condition I'd have wished. Still, I think I'm doing a pretty good work in this Volta, as well myself as the whole team, and we're really happy."

While stage 6 on Saturday is likely a day for the sprinters, the final stage in Barcelona with eight trips over the Alt de Montjuïc can prove tricky. "Let's see what happens until Sunday in Montjuïc. We already did great and we'll fight for what it's left. The GC is close, we're pretty much equal when it comes to energy and even the bonus seconds might be key."

How it unfolded

A large group escaped the field on the run out of Alp, just 5km into the 195.4km stage to Valls. It included Martin Elmiger (IAM), Jan Polanc (Lampre), Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge), Lawson Craddock (Giant-Alpecin), Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing), Luis Mas (Caja Rural), Florian Vachon (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC), Romain Hardy, Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and Marinus Minnaard (Wanty Groupe Gobert), and soon added Anton Vorobyev (Katusha).

The Russian's presence seemed to tip the balance toward the field, and the group was caught and the race was all back together for the first sprint of the day, with Lotto Soudal's Boris Vallee and Greg Henderson leading the bunch across the line as they tried to protect race leader de Clercq.

It wasn't until after the sprint that a group could then go clear, and it was Jan Polanc (Lampre), Calvin Watson (Trek) and Yohan Bagot (Cofidis) who had the honours.

Their lead maxed out at five minutes at the second sprint at kilometer 103.4, but drama was soon to unfold behind as strong crosswinds began to blow.

Katusha, Tinkoff-Saxo, Movistar, Sky and Etixx-Quick Step all made the front chase group as the peloton fractured into echelons. De Clercq was not among the group of favourites with Porte, Contador and Uran, and Sky made sure he stayed behind and in the process swept past the three previous leaders. Also missing out on the break was Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), whose podium hopes would vanish in the breeze.

On the day's sole climb, the category 2 Alt de Lilla, the leading group split further thanks to an injection of pace from the pre-race favourites. Nine riders emerged at the front: Valverde, Uran, Porte, Contador, Fabio Aru (Astana) and teammate Tiralongo, Domenico Pozzovivo, Rafael Valls (Lampre) and Tejay van Garderen.

As they hurtled downhill toward the finish, there was a brief hesitation and Valverde took advantage of the opportunity to attack ahead of a series of roundabouts that helped to slow the chase. He was able to hold onto his gap of five seconds and celebrate the victory, which he dedicated to former teammate Xavier Tondo, who died in 2011, and Pablo Lastras, who broke his pelvis in a crash on stage 4.

"Every time we come to the Volta a Catalunya we always remember Xavi a lot; we always do, in every race, and every victory we achieve, though we don't always say it, is for him," Valverde said. "We also remember Pablo, after his crash yesterday. Let this victory serve so we can remind him we're by his side, giving every bit of energy on the road to make him happy - this is also for you."