Giro d'Italia: Groves wins crash-marred stage 5 in Salerno

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After a pair of podium places earlier in the week, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sped to his first Giro d’Italia stage win on stage 5 in Salerno at the end of a wet, miserable, and crash-hit day in the saddle in Campania.

The Australian, who recovered from a late crash just seven kilometres from the finish, went long, sprinting along the barriers some 200 metres from the line. He held Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in the dash for the finish.

Behind them a crash just before the finish line saw Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) among those hitting the deck after a high-speed touch of wheels. 2.4km earlier, former maglia rosa Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was among multiple fallers during what was his second crash of the stage.

Evenepoel, who went down in a multi-rider crash caused by a dog off the leash at the start of the day, rolled home at over four minutes down alongside teammate Pieter Serry. He won't lose any GC time with the crash coming inside the final three kilometres. He seemed to have avoided any serious injury but was banged up and looked understandably angry as he rode to the finish.

Another crash happened with seven kilometres to go as riders turned on the straight seafront finish. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and maglia rosa Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) were amongst the many involved but managed to get up quickly and chase back to the peloton and so avoid losing any time.  

In the sprint, Groves was the first to jump from the front of the peloton in the closing sprint, bursting up along the barriers and leading from the front with stage 2 winner Milan and Pedersen in his wheel.

Neither had anything in response to Groves' acceleration, leaving Milan to edge out Pedersen and a fast-finishing Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) for the runner-up spot. Dainese, however, would later be relegated from fourth by the race jury for his actions in causing the crash of the closing metres.

"I surprised myself, I think, today," Groves said after the finish. "Everything was going well but I crashed at the roundabout corner at seven kilometres to go. Luckily, I put my chain back on fast enough and the groups came back together, but it wasn't very clean, we all got lost. The guys did a good job very early and luckily, I was good enough to be in position with DSM and have the legs to lead out and win.

"It's a dream. This is the race I've been focussing on since November and December. I just want to thank the team, everyone involved, my teammates. They believed in me and, after two thirds this week, they delivered me to a win."

By leading from the front, Groves avoided all the chaos behind him.

With 50 metres to go, Dainese moved across the road to contest the sprint, cutting across Cavendish's front wheel in the process. That sent the British champion careering right into Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), who somehow kept it upright while rubbing the barriers but was left with a nasty hand injury.

Cavendish, however, wasn't so lucky, catapulting back across the road and crossing the line sliding on his back as Mirco Maestri (Eolo-Kometa), David Dekker (Arkéa-Samsic) and others also fell, unable to avoid the Manxman. Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën) went down hard beyond the finish line and was taken to hospital, with his team later announcing that he had suffered a shoulder separation and a wound that requires numerous stitches.

How it unfolded

Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia would take the riders on a hilly 171 km route across Campania, from Atripalda to the coastal city of Salerno. 

Only two third-category climbs lay on the parcours – the Passo Serra early on and the Oliveto Citra at 57 km out. However, with largely flat or descending roads filling the closing 50km, the stage looked to be a day for the sprinters.

The peloton – down four riders after the stage 4 abandon of Paul Lapeira (AG2R Citroën) and the overnight withdrawals of Valerio Conti (Corratec-Selle Italia), Ramon Sinkeldam (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Rémy Rochas (Cofidis) – rolled out in the morning under pouring rain, heralding the most miserable day of the race so far.

The showers didn't relent as the riders took the start proper and with it the opening climb at the Passo Serra, but that didn't prevent a small group of riders from venturing away from the peloton.

Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè pairing Martin Marcellusi and Samuele Zoccarato were joined in the early breakaway by Stefano Gandin (Corratec-Selle Italia) and blue jersey Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), the latter hoping to nab some extra mountain points early on.

There was a touch of drama before the quartet reached the opening climb, though, with Marcellusi and Gandin both sliding out separately on a wet corner, the fall ending Marcellusi's time in the move.

The remaining trio stuck together, though, and were joined by Thomas Champion (Cofidis) on the climb before Pinot led the way over the top to add nine points to his KOM total. The Frenchman would quickly sit up and wait for the peloton, his job for the day done with over 100 km through the rain between the break and another nine points.

All was set for a quiet, cautious day in the rain from then on, with the sprinter's teams set to control the breakaway over the lumpy mid-stage terrain ahead of the expected sprint finish. However, fate, or rather a small dog, intervened 20km into the stage.

The front of the peloton took avoiding action after spotting the loose pup running free at the side of the road, but the dog ran towards the riders, causing Davide Ballerini (Soudal-QuickStep) to touch wheels, slide out and hit the deck.

Behind the Italian, his teammate, the race favourite and former maglia rosa Remco Evenepoel also went down. There was a heart-in-mouth moment as the world champion sat on the side of the road for some time as several teammates, the QuickStep team car, and the race doctor all rushed to help him.

However, after a few minutes delay, Evenepoel was back up and riding, assisted in the chase back to the peloton by five teammates. He gave a thumbs up to the television motorbike to signal all was okay after the scare.

Evenepoel and his teammates were back in the peloton with 148 km to go, while up front it was Trek-Segafredo, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Team DSM making the pace 2:30 down on the breakaway trio. Their advantage wouldn't grow to much more than that during the mid-section of the stage, with the peloton enjoying a quiet and drama-free – if wet – day on the bike.

Things perked up a bit at 105 km to go with the intermediate sprint at Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, where Gandin pipped Champion to the line as, minutes later, Mads Pedersen got the better of Jonathan Milan and Michael Matthews off the front of the peloton.

After that, it was back to controlling the situation, with Trek-Segafredo, Team DSM, and Alpecin-Deceuninck joined by Jumbo-Visma, Jayco-AlUla, and Soudal-QuickStep in leading the peloton. The gap to the break was steadily eroded until it hit the one-minute mark at 65 km to go.

By that point, only the second climb at Oliveto Citra – hometown of Eolo-Kometa rider Vincenzo Albanese – and the second intermediate sprint at 25km to go, stood between the riders and the finish.

Zoccarato and Champion battled for the points at the top, with the Italian taking the full nine just ahead of the Frenchman. A minute later, Pinot nipped out of the peloton to take the remaining mountain point ahead of Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).

Following the climb, with the peloton still in no big rush to get to the finish, the peloton let the break's advantage reach back out to 1:30, though the men out front would only last to compete for the final sprint before they were inevitably caught.

At the line, it was Gandin who sped past his breakmates to take the points and bonus seconds. 30 seconds later, riders from Trek-Segafredo, Movistar, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Team DSM shared the workload as the finishing sprint neared.

Shortly after the intermediate sprint, Zoccarato decided to prolong the inevitable, pushing on alone into the final 20 km to leave Champion and his fellow Venetian Gandin behind. 

The crash-strewn closing 10km

Zoccarato, a 25-year-old riding his third Giro, battled on into the last 10km as the sprint squads mixed with the GC teams speeding along the Tyrrhenian coast road. 

He lasted until the 6.5km to go mark before being swallowed up. But it was by a reduced peloton after a wet right turn, the last corner of the day, saw a trio of Alpecin-Deceuninck riders slide out.

Their sprinter Kaden Groves hit the deck, as did Movistar's Fernando Gaviria and UAE Team Emirates sprinter Pascal Ackermann, while many more – including Primož Roglič and maglia rosa Leknessund – were involved and held up.

Only around 30 riders made it through unscathed, including Evenepoel, while a furious chase behind saw the peloton get back in contact three kilometres from the line. 

The sprint squads quickly rearranged themselves on the front of the peloton, but there would be more drama before the finish as Evenepoel hit the deck once again.

The Belgian, plus Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), had the benefit of the 3km rule and so were awarded the same time as the sprinters by race judges. Evenepoel seemed to touch wheels with a Trek-Segafredo rider, leaving him angry and gesticulating in frustration at his team car.

Jayco-AlUla, Team DSM and Alpecin-Deceuninck led the way into the final kilometre, with a cadre of sprinters arranged behind the various lead-out men on the final run to the finish. 

200 metres from the line, Groves burst off the wheel of the Team DSM lead out to go for glory. It looked a long way out, but the 24-year-old's pace wasn't quite matched by those behind him. Milan threatened to pull alongside in the closing metres but didn't have enough to get close enough to add to his earlier stage win.

In the end, it was Groves who raised his arms in celebration at his fourth victory of the year and his second at a Grand Tour after stage 11 at last year's Vuelta a España.

Others crashed behind him, everyone just happy and relieved to have made it through the stage. 

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