Live coverage

Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 5

By PFletcher
published

January 1 - June 2, Frascati, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia, a short 140km net-downhill route from Frascati to Terracina.

 

Hello there and welcome to the Cyclingnews live race centre for another day at the Giro d'Italia. After three stages that exceeded 200 kilometres, there are just 140km on today's menu. What's more, there's only one categorised climb and it's a net downhill stage. That'll be most welcome to many of the riders, not least Tom Dumoulin, who will try to get through today's stage after a nasty crash yesterday.

Here's what's in store

As you can see, we have a couple of climbs to kick things off. Although uncategorised, they are far from straight forward, and we should see an intense start as breakaway hopefuls try to make it up the road. GC teams, not least race leader Primoz Roglic's Jumbo-Visma, will have to really be on the ball here from KM0. 

Dumoulin is the big story this morning. The 2017 champion finished yesterday's stage four minutes down, blood pouring from his knee. He declared his GC challenge over and his very presence in the race was hanging in the balance overnight.

And here is Dumoulin at the start. One of our men on the ground, Alasdair Fotheringham, has this from the Dutchman. 

Before we get going, now's the time to catch up on yesterday's action. Here's our report page with a full write-up, full results, and a photo gallery. 

The start of today's stage, by the way, is just over five minutes away. They'll roll out of Frascati at 13:55 local time, completing a short neutralised section before the racing proper gets underway just after 14.00.

Rain capes are the order of the day, as it's raining at the start. Here's maglia ciclamino and stage 1 winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

We're off

A slight delay as the riders make their way through the neutralised zone. The rain is still pouring down and they're going over soaking wet cobblestones in the centre of Frascati. 

A reminder of the overall standings at the start of today's stage

Here we go

Bardiani-CSF are on the move as the road immediately pitches uphill. We could see a big fight for the breakaway today, and it might not settle for a good while.

Tom Dumoulin abandons

That didn't take long. Dumoulin started the race but obviously felt immediately in the neutralised zone that he could play no further part in this race. A real shame. 

As we hear of Dumoulin's abandon, we have a breakaway and, contrary to my predictions, it formed with a minimum of fuss. In there are:

136km remaining from 140km

Ciccone is wearing the blue jersey as leader of the mountains classification. With just one cat-4 climb (three points) on offer today, is it worth the effort? 

After Dumoulin's abandon, Sunweb have to change focus, and that now looks to be stage wins, as they fire Vervaeke up the road. 

The rest of the break is made up of riders from the three Italian Pro Continental teams, who will no doubt be represented in the lion's share of the breaks at this Giro. Nippo are the only ones who have made all three so far, with Sho Hatsuyama making up the break all on his own on stage 3. 

The riders have come over the top of that first uncategorised climb and are now heading downhill through the mist. 

130km remaining from 140km

Ciccone has decided to drop back to the peloton. That leaves five in the break. 

The rain is still coming down hard and the roads are covered in surface water. It's an utterly miserable day to be riding your bike. 

122km remaining from 140km

None of these riders are a threat in terms of the overall standings. Vervaeke is the best-placed of the five, in 75th place, 6:07 down on Roglic. 

Here's the moment Dumoulin's Giro came to an end.

117km remaining from 140km

Plenty of Bora riders behind as well. Jumbo-Visma worked early on but are likely to put the onus on the sprinters' teams to chase down this break for a bunch gallop in Terracina. 

Here's our Dumoulin story, by the way. 

112km remaining from 140km

The Tour of California is also on this week and we snapped a few photos of the tech that is on show there. Check out our 50 race tech photos at the Tour of California.

104km remaining from 140km

A problem for Andemeskel on the descent. Fortunately, he doesn't look too banged up. One of the race motorbikes has gone down in a separate incident. The roads are really wet. 

Orsini is no longer in the leading group and he is chasing a little further back. It's not clear if he had an incident or he's just being a bit more tentative on the descent. 

The sprint teams continue to manage the pace in the peloton with FDJ, Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck-QuickStep placing riders up front. Primoz Roglic and his team are just behind. They've been happy to let the sprint teams do the heavily lifting in the early stages, but it's interesting that they're not looking to be further up the peloton in these conditions. 

94km remaining from 140km

The riders are onto flatter terrain and have dealt with the hardest part of today's stage. Coming up very soon will be the first of two intermediate sprints. 

Some riders are dropping back to the team cars for some more/new layers. The rain is torrential and even the best wet weather gear is struggling to cope with the conditions. 

The breakaway rolls through the intermediate sprint, which is on cobbles. There is no contest for it and Barbin leads the five riders through. In the peloton, Ackermann sprints off the front of the bunch to pick up a few points. 

A mechanical problem for Giacomo Nizzolo and he pulls over to the side of the road. He takes the opportunity to take his jacket off, perhaps to get a new one. 

Race leader Primoz Roglic is back in the cars at the moment. It doesn't seem like he's too stressed and he doesn't have any teammates with him. Perhaps a comfort break or a quick chat with the team car. 

Roglic, with a little difficulty pulls off his rain cape and gets a new one from the team car. His capes are pink, by the way, issued by the race organisers rather than his team. 

Vincenzo Nibali drops back to the race director's car for a chat. 

And now Roglic heads back to the race director's car.

There could be discussion going on over a possible neutralisation of GC times later on. The riders will cross the finish line in Terracina for the first time with around 10km to go before doing a final loop. There could be a call to take GC times on the first passage, leaving the sprinters to get on with it and allow the overall favourites to avoid risks in these treacherous conditions. We've seen what happened yesterday with late crashes, as we're already one former champion and title contender down.

There's definitely something afoot. Gaviria is next to the red car. 

75km remaining from 140km

71km remaining from 140km

GC times neutralised early

65km remaining from 140km

Nibali's teammate Kristijan Koren did not start today's stage. That's because he has been named in the blood doping ring uncovered by Operation Aderlass and has been provisionally suspended by the UCI.

Given the weather conditions, the race organisation, in agreement with jury of commissaires, has decided that times will be taken on the first passage of the finish line in Terracina. Points and time bonuses will awarded at the stage finish #Giro

57km remaining from 140km

As they near the top of the relatively gentle climb, Vervaeke sets off in search of the points. 

53km remaining from 140km

The peloton come over the top 1:30 in arrears

Vervaeke has carried on with his effort and is going it alone. He has 40 seconds on the other four breakaway riders already. 

43km remaining from 140km

Vervaeke heads under the 40km-to-go banner. The roads are still very slick and the gentle bends are being taken very gingerly. 

In case you missed it, my colleague Barry Ryan taken a look at the overall complexion after yesterday's shake-up. 

Puncture for Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), just as the pace intensifies in the peloton. 

30km remaining from 140km

A nice story, this, from Alasdair Fotheringham, who caught up with Larry Warbasse and Connor Dunne in their first race together since their NoGo Tour last year, in which they went bike touring for a week instead of racing the Tour of Britain as their Aqua Blue team folded suddenly and left them staring unemployment in the face. 

25km remaining from 140km

Groupama-FDJ sent a rider to the front now. Arnaud Demare's team have been prominent on the run-ins so far.

Vervaeke is on a wide false flat and looks over his shoulder to see the peloton close at hand. It's almost over.

23km remaining from 140km

The average speed so far is 39.5km/h.

Jumbo-Visma set up on the right-hand side of the road, protecting the race leader. FDJ have a man on the very front followed by Elia Viviani's QuickStep teammates. Androni also prominent, with Movistar in the middle trying to protect their GC men Landa and Carapaz.

18km remaining from 140km

A reminder that Tom Dumoulin is no longer in the Giro d'Italia. He lasted one kilometre before climbing off his bike and into the team car. Here's the full story. 

14km remaining from 140km

The rain continues to pelt down on the run-in. It really has been relentless today. There's so much water it's gathering in pools on the sides of the road and all being sprayed up by the riders on the flanks of the bunch. 

11km remaining from 140km

The riders enter the home straight for the first time. A reminder that GC times will be taken on the first passage of the finish line. 

9km remaining from 140km

So, the GC riders can sit back now. Finishing times have been taken, so there will be no changes to the general classification, provided everyone finishes the stage. It's over to the sprinters' teams to battle it out. 

8km remaining from 140km

Lotto Soudal and Bora are the prominent teams as we head around this loop. The GC teams are not up there battling for position so this is a far less intense and dangerous run-in.

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Pascal Ackermann (Bora), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal). They're the big names here. Look out, too, for Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo), who was up there on stage 3 but was impeded by Viviani. 

5km remaining from 140km

A tight right-hander and a sharp intake of breath. Everyone comes through unscathed. And now a left-hander. Those bends string out the bunch.

Demare was caught a bit far back and his teammates move him up swiftly.

4km remaining from 140km

A big split in the bunch. Mainly the stage contenders and their key teammates left out front now. 

3km remaining from 140km

FDJ move up alongside now. They and Israel still have four each.

Senechal moves Viviani up towards the front on the left. Sabatini comes up now. 

2km remaining from 140km

Bora now hit the front, with Ackermann well positioned. 

CCC put a rider on the front as we hit 1500 to go. They're working for Mareczko.

1km remaining from 140km

FDJ take it up through the flamme rouge but QuickStep come up on the left.

QuickStep and FDJ side by side but now Senechal takes pole position

QuickStep n the driving seat

But now FDJ come through

Ackermann launches

Gaviria moves to the front

But Ackermann comes back...

And takes it!

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia

Wow, a second stage win for the German, and that's quite a sprint. He's third wheel - behind his lead-out man and one from FDJ - when he looks over his shoulder and sees Gaviria opening up. He has to stop pedalling momentarily as the FDJ lead-out rider peels off to the right, into the middle of the road. Nonetheless, he gets onto Gaviria's wheel before surging past him on the left and snatching it on the line. 

Demare finished a more distant third. Viviani was right behind when Ackermann and Gaviria opened up but didn't look like he had any acceleration in the legs and finished outside the top 10.

Top 10

Primoz Roglic and the rest of the GC contenders cross the line, their times already safe. No change to the top of the standings, although Tom Dumoulin is of course now out of the race. 

General Classification after stage 5

That's Ackermann's second stage win of what is his debut Grand Tour. He turned pro with Bora in 2017 but didn't win until 2018. Since he did, however, he has hardly stopped. 9 wins last year, and now 5 this term, and he has quickly become one of the top sprinters in the world. There was some controversy about Bora's decision to omit Sam Bennett - who won three stages last year - but few can really argue now. 

Let's hear from the stage winner

There are question marks over how far the sprinters will go in this Giro, with so little on offer in the mountainous second half of the race. Some will head home early to prepare for the Tour de France, but it seems Ackermann - whose team will be led by Peter Sagan in July - wants to go all the way to Verona. He was wearing the maglia ciclamino today and increases his lead in the points classification, which will be a big motivation when it comes to getting over those mountains. 

Here's our report page

Here's what Viviani had to say

Want all the snap post-stage reaction in one handy place? Here you go.

Tom Dumoulin spoke at the finish. Here's what he had to say. 

Thanks to @giroditalia organisers in agreement with @UCI_cycling for this good decision today due to the difficult weather conditions. Good to leave the sprinters do their job and avoid GC riders stressing for time gaps in the final. We are totally in with @Lotto_Soudal https://t.co/sMRykjCccE

Here's what's in store tomorrow. A very interesting finale indeed.

Full results, report, and photos from today's stage can be found in the link below. 

That's it from us for today. Keep an eye on the site for all the news and reaction from Terracina, and join us again here tomorrow for full coverage of stage 6. 

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