Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco 2018: Stage 5

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 5 of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco 2018 hub page

Vuelta al Pais Vasco start list

País Vasco stage 2: Alaphilippe wins again in Bermeo

País Vasco stage 3: McCarthy wins stage 3

País Vasco: Roglic wins time trial in Lodosa

The sun is out in the Basque Country as we join the race for the decisive part of the stage.

After the rolling roads and drop from the Plateau, the rider are about to face the two key climbs of the stage.

The 164km stage to Eibar and especially the two climbs will be the first test for Primoz Roglic after he took the race leader by wining the key 19km TT yesterday. 

There are 13 riders in the break of the day. LottoNL and Roglic seem happy to let then take the glory today. 

The 13 currently lead by 3:15.

The riders in the break are José Rojas (Movistar), Pierre Latour (Ag2r La Mondiale), Omar Fraile (Astana), José Herrada, Daniel Teklehaimanot (Cofidis,) Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida), Jay McCarthy (BORA-hansgrohe), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Michael Albasini, Carlos Verona (Mitchelton-Scott), Alex Howes (EF-Drapac), Jonathan Castroviejo (Sky), Jason Hindley (Sunweb) and Matteo Bono (UAE-Emirates).

60km remaining from 164km

The race is on the Elosua Gaina climb now. It is a tough one: 8.1km at 6.9%. 

Behind the Movistar is leading the chase and are setting a fast pace on the climb.

We have listed all the riders in the break in our situation panel on the right. We will continue to update the time gaps and the splits in the peloton there.  

Padun is first to the top of the climb. 

Behind, the Movistar surge has smashed open the peloton. The race is on.

Both the break and the peloton dive down the fast descent. 

Fortunately the roads are dry today.

49km remaining from 164km

The break split on the climb and the descent but is coming back together now.

The Movistar surge has left just 40 or so riders left in the peloton. 

We can expect more attacks and accelerations on the final two-part climb in about 10km. 

 And there's an attack from Team Sky in the bunch. The rider looks back to survey the damage but they're just trying to set things up for later. 43km to go with the gap at 3'03. 

The break, and it's a strong one, has extended their lead by another 25 seconds. 

Movistar, Team Sky and Roglic are all near the front and the pace has jumped up once more. It's Anacona - massively underrated as a rider - who is on the front and setting the pace. 

Landa has Quintana on his wheel, as the gap to the break moves out to 3'28. Cummings has just moved up the front of the peloton as we head to the next climb. 

A reminder of the GC coming into today's stage:


1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 13:41:26
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:34
3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:33
4 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:36
5 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:42
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:48
7 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:57
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:08
9 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:11
10 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team

And another reminder, here's a teaser to our Classics film - out next week - featuring the biggest one-day riders in the world. Follow us on Vimeo for all the latest news.

3'41 now for the leaders with 35km to go but we're about to hit the penultimate climb, we're on the approach and it's still Movistar setting the pace. 

Trek Segafredo are also hitting the front. They have Mollema in their ranks and just want to keep him well-placed before the climb starts. 

Fraile for Astana hits the climb, and we're on the tougher parts, of around 16 per cent. The break lines out and already riders are starting to struggle.

And the bunch are climbing, with Roglic well placed near the front. Movistar lead and the gap is down to 3'01.

Roglic is fourth wheel with Mollema on his wheel. Landa and Quintana are both there but there are already gaps in the main field.

Alaphilippe is in there too, all the big GC men are still in contention but Movistar are still doing all the work on the front. Up ahead the break is starting to really struggle. 

No time gaps but the advantage is dropping and dropping fast. It's 2'40.

Uran is on Roglic wheel, Landa is second as the gradient rises once more. At the front of the break, Hindley sets the pace.

Landa has just one teammate left, so he's going to need to attack soon if he wants to keep the pace up. And he goes right away.

It's not a full on attack but he lifts the pace. Roglic responds but I think Quintana is there, at the back of the group.

32km remaining from 164km

The gap is down to 2'25 with 32km to go. Landa continues to lead the GC group. And Quintana has been dropped. And Landa accelerates again. Roglic, Mollema and co can all respond. 

The GC group is down to around eight riders. 

Gorka Izaguirre attacks, Lopez, Mollema, Landa, Roglic, Uran and the rest all able to respond. 31km to go.

31km remaining from 164km

And Landa attacks again. Only Gorka Izaguirre and Roglic can go with him. Alaphilippe can't respond. 

The Landa group have about eight seconds on the chasers as the road levels off. Up ahead, the original break is down to about seven riders. 

Landa's group has twenty seconds now. 29km to go as we go over the top of the climb. The Landa group has picked up a few of the early breakaway riders, and they'll help with the pace setting.

De la Cruz has made it to the Landa group. They'e picked up Rojas, who moves to the front and sets the pace. 

The key riders in the first GC group are: Landa, Gorka Izaguirre, Roglic and de la Cruz. Alaphilippe is in the next group on the road with Uran and Mollema.

25km remaining from 164km

25km to go and the break have 1'25 on the Roglic group. That's probably not enough at this stage. There are six riders in the lead group, and Fraile is one of them. Correction, de la Cruz is not in the Roglic/Landa group as we see Rojas do the work on the front.

We're climbing again and Rojas cracks. So that leaves Gorka Izaguirre, Landa and Roglic. They're 54 seconds off the break with Uran setting the pace with Quintana, around 35 seconds down on the yellow jersey.

How important is this move in the grand scheme of things? Quintana has attacked and is now chasing the Landa group. 

22km remaining from 164km

Gorka Izaguirre is made aware that Quintana has attacked, and now he stamps on the pedals. Up ahead Verona has attacked from the break. And now Alaphilippe has cracked. We've still got 3km to go climb!

And Gorka Izaguirre lifts the pace once more, with Roglic and Landa responding. Quintana is still alone and chasing. 

And Quintana has been caught by the Uran/Mollema group. 21km to go but no sign of Alaphilippe.

Verona still leads but he only has 23 seconds and he's not yet on the descent. The chase group is now:

Landa, Ion Izaguirre (not Gorka), Roglic and Padun, who was in the earlier break, and has now been caught. 

Quintana, Uran and Mollema are part of the next group, while there's no time gap yet for Alaphilippe. He cracked with about 3km to go until the summit.

17km remaining from 164km

All on the descent now but Verona's gap is just at 11 seconds. He loses another three seconds.

There's a climb to the line, before the finish, a great chance for a late attack, as we see Verona is about to be caught. Fraile, and Herrada are in the mix too now, with the Roglic group.

15km remaining from 164km

Landa is leading down the descent. With 15km to go the lead group contains:


 
Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Mitchelton-Scott)

Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo)

Mikel Landa Meana (Movistar Team)

Jon Izagirre Insausti (Bahrain-Merida)

Omar Fraile Matarranza (Astana Pro Team)

Jesus Herrada Lopez (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)

Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida)

Through a tunnel and there's a split out the other side with the Bahrain duo creating a gap. Landa is forced to chase. Padun leads at the front of the race.

8km remaining from 164km

Fraile now has a gap off the front of the lead group, while the Uran/Quintana group is now at 1'09.

Padun shuts down the move from Fralie, arches his back and moves into TT mode. 8km to go.

Roglic looks a good bet to take another stage. He's not had to work today, and has just followed moves. Verona has a decent kick but how much does he have in the tank?

Padun moves to the front again and takes another long pull. The chasers are now at 1'27. 

Fraile is telling the rest he can't come through and work. Lets see what he does in the sprint, shall we?

Just under 2km to go, who will attack first?

Verona has drifted to the back of the group. 1km to go.

Bahrain are going to lead this one out.

We reach that small climb and there's an attack.

Roglic shuts down and attack.

Sprint!

Fraile hits the front.

Omar Fraile takes the stage. 

That's a huge win for the Astana ride. He's already off the bike, handing out high-five and hugs to all in close proximity. 

Here come the Mollema group, 1'27 down. 

Big loser of the day is Alaphilippe. He's still not home.

Canny ride from Fraile, although he didn't win any friends in Verona. 2'14 for Alaphilippe.

Here are the stage results:

1 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:53:59
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
3 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
4 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:15
8 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:27
9 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
10 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb

And here's your new GC:



General classification after stage 5

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 17:35:19
2 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:13
3 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:17
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:55
5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:06
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:21
7 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:30
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:41
9 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:03:49
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:57

So  a good day for Fraile but an even better one for Roglic, who extends his lead with one, albeit difficult stage to come. 

You can find our report, images, and results, right here.