Tirreno-Adriatico: Sagan claims stage 5

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) powered to his second stage victory of the 2017 edition of Tirreno-Adriatico Sunday in Fermo.

The reigning world champion survived a short but steep climb to the finish after 210 kilometres to contest stage 5 in a reduced sprint, nabbing a convincing victory over a field mostly composed of GC contenders. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who moved up to second overall midway through the day when Orica-Scott's Adam Yates abandoned, claimed runner-up honours and a few bonus seconds, while LottoNl-Jumbo's Primoz Roglic finished third.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) continues to lead the general classification heading into Monday's stage 6, which runs 168km from Ascoli Piceno to Civitanova Marche.

The stage turned into a race of attrition in its second half, as they tackled a collection of short, steep climbs. Rider after rider was dropped, while up front attack followed attack, but none stayed clear.

The stage ended with a small group of the top GC riders grinding their way up yet another steep, narrow, cobble climb to the finish line, only to be joined and then easily passed by the world champion.

"I felt very bad today, but I am very happy for this win," Sagan said. "It was looking like I wouldn’t be able to race tomorrow – all day it was full gas, with everyone attacking. I don't know if the other riders saw the profile?

"Rafal Majka was the guy who put his trust in me today. I said to him not to be stupid – that we'll go together, and if he had the legs he'd go. He worked for me and trusted my ability more than I did. I was actually dropped in the last climb, but just got back in the final kilometre. After that I did my best and am very happy with the victory."

How it unfolded

Riders made the 210km journey from Rieti to Fermo under sunny conditions. Prominently missing from the start was Fabio Aru (Astana), who was suffering from bronchitis.

Perhaps they were still tired from yesterday's closing climb up the Terminillo, or daunted by the many sharp climbs in the last half of the stage, but it took some 30 kilometres of racing before a break group formed.

The lucky 11 were Moreno Moser (Astana), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors), Steve Cummings (Dimension Data), Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin), Gianna Moscon (Team Sky), Filippo Ganna (UAE-Team Emirates), Marco Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Scott Thwaites (Dimension Data) and Davide Ballerini (Androni-Giocattoli).

It wasn't to be, though. The group never got more than about four minutes and once the race hit the climbs in the second half, they were brought back quickly. Lammertink and Gougeard tried to keep going, but they didn't last long.

With 80 kilometres left, word came that Yates had been dropped from the peloton. Surprising news, since the young Orica Scott rider was second in the GC and had finished third on the previous day's Queen stage. Soon though, he was back at the team car and then in the team car, with word being that he was suffering from intestinal problems.

As always, once the first group was caught, the next one formed. The first attempt was a very large group of some 30 riders, but that group never had a chance. The next one was more successful, as Matteo Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli), Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), Mikel Landa (Team Sky) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) joined forces.

A good group with the potential to go all the way, but with Jungels only 1:52 down in GC, Movistar couldn't afford to take any chances.They never had more than a minute before being caught again with 44 kilometres to go. Only moments later, Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) took off. He too looked to have good chances on this rolling terrain but with 36 kilometres to go, he too was caught.

The group stayed sedately together until the next climb beckoned. Attack followed attack, only to have it all come back together. Many of the climbs had steep sections and were on cobblestones in the cities, to add to the difficulties. Sky's Vasil Kiryienka and Astana's Luís Leon Sánchez attacked on a climb with about 20 kilometres to go, but the duo didn't work together and Kiryienka dropped back about 6 km later.

The finish was as wild and confusing and exciting as the course. Short dashes into the countryside were interspersed with steep climbs up narrow cobbled roads in the old town. BMC's Tejay van Garderen moved up to join Sanchez but only shortly. Both were brought back by the rapidly shrinking favourites' group. Many had been dropped, including Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data).

Once Sanchez and van Garderen were taken in, attack followed attack, with Pinot being the most active. Even Quintana essayed a try.

Sagan had missed the front group, but with 2 kilometres left, he furiously worked his way up. As the small group hit the final kilometre marker, Uran took off with Sagan right behind him. They didn't get far and Pinot tried again. The group struggled up the steep climb pretty much together. Pinot was the first to jump as the finish line beckoned, but Sagan showed off his world champion skills, sprinting for the easy win.

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