Tirreno-Adriatico: Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 5 after 52km solo attack

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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) put on a master class on stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico to take his second stage win on a Classics-style circuit around Castelfidardo in punishing Spring Classics conditions.

The Dutchman soloed away from a select lead group 52 kilometres from the line into a sudden storm that whipped up high winds, rain, and plummeting temperatures and narrowly holding off a furious solo chase from race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

Pogačar attacked 17 kilometres from the line up the final ascent of the 15 per cent slope of the Castelfidardo wall and went on to put in an incredible solo pursuit of the Dutch champion, slashing a three-minute gap that Van der Poel had built up with a long-range attack to just 10 seconds at the line.

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“I was riding completely on empty in the last few kilometres. I was told that Pogačar was coming close but I wasn't even able to listen. I just wanted to reach the finish as fast as I could," Van der Poel said. "I'm happy with the win. I attacked from far away because I was cold and I felt good until 20km to go.”

Van der Poel's move came as the already much reduced leading group was punished by the cold rain and, his engine revving into the red, quickly left all the overall contenders behind. Having lost over 20 minutes on the previous stage, Van der Poel was no threat to Pogacar's blue jersey, and the chase only picked up on the final of four laps of the 23.6km circuit.

It was Pogačar himself who set off in solo pursuit, leaving Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) behind on the penultimate trip up the terrible 'wall' of a climb and halving Van der Poel's advantage over ten kilometres. Pogačar halved it again in the final 5km, and with 2.5km to go, Van der Poel had just 46 seconds over the Tour de France winner and a steep finishing climb that would push the Dutch champion to his limit.

His legs clearly turned to blocks of lead, Van der Poel looked back to see Pogačar's approach but the line came soon enough to give the Alpecin-Fenix rider his second stage victory of the race.

Pogačar's effort also pushed second-placed Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to his limit, with the Belgian unable to hold the UAE Team Emirates rider's pace on the final muro to go. Van Aert time trialed in for third on the stage at 49 seconds.

"When I saw Wout van Aert suffering I went to try and get more time on GC but I never thought I would be anywhere close to catching Van der Poel," Pogacar said. "I'm super happy with the advantage I have over Van Aert now before the time trial."

How it unfolded

Stage 5 of the 2021 edition of Tirreno-Adriatico provided the final real opportunity for riders to turn around the overall classification, led by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) by 35 seconds over Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Sergio Higuita (EF Education Nippo).

The day started bright and dry with half of the 205km stage on pan flat roads along the Adriatic coast. Accordingly, the pace was brutal in the first hour as the overall contenders refused to allow any move to go clear until finally, after 40km covered in just over 40 minutes, five riders leapt clear.

The group was powered by time trial World Champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) along with Robert Stannard (BikeExchange), Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), and Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep). Their gap maxed out at just under four minutes but had dropped to two and change when the race approached the punishing closing circuits around Castelfidardo with its wall kicking up to 19 per cent grades.

Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Chris Juul-Jensen (BikeExchange) threw the cat amongst the pigeons on the first climb, attacking out of the maglia azzurra group and sparking a reaction that included Van der Poel who seemed to be itching to mete out punishment on roads akin to Amstel Gold terrain. The Dutch champion led a move straight into the climb and was followed by Van Aert, Pogačar, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech) but Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) struggled and lost ground.

The breakaway's lead down to just 15 seconds, Rickaert dropped back to help Van der Poel and Ballerini also dropped back, leaving three riders to face an unbeatable onslaught from all the big names.

Rain began to fall, temperatures plummeted, and the winds picked up, as the peloton, shattered by Van der Poel's relentless attacking, was spread all along the circuit. Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) crashed in a rain-slicked turn with 59k to go, as the pressure from the group ahead brought back Ganna, Bilbao and Stannard, with Van der Poel, Romain Bardet and teammate Nikias Arndt (Team DSM) forming a brief leading group.

They were caught back by Pogačar's group and attacked by Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) with 56km to go but the move only inspired Van der Poel to counter-attack and solo clear with 52km still to race.

Alone on the wet, twisting, technical circuit, Van der Poel had less to worry about in the slick turns while the chasing group took the corners more gingerly. Pogačar dropped his chain as he tried to shift into an easier gear at the base of the ascent but was brought back into the group by his teammate.

Meanwhile, Van der Poel, having sat up on the Prati di Tivo stage, was no threat to Pogačar's race lead at 20 minutes down the standings, and Davide Formolo kept a steady tempo for Pogačar that allowed the chasing group to swell in ranks. Van Aert smartly surged to take the second-placed time bonus at the intermediate sprint with 47km to go but in the end, it would help very little at all.

With 35km to go, Van der Poel had forged a 90 second gap on the chasers, who were rejoined by Simon Yates (BikeExchange) but not Alaphilippe, who succumbed to the cold and dropped back for a jacket and gloves.

Van der Poel, weatherproof, pushed his advantage to more than two minutes with 31km to go but Bernal, suffering in the rapidly dropping temperature, went back to the team car to get a rain jacket. Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) opted for a different warm-up and came to the front to line out the 19-rider chasing group and began to splinter it but had little success.

Fabio Felline (Astana-Premier Tech) was the next rider to try, attacking with 25km to go as Van der Poel's lead hovered at just under three minutes.  As skinny climbers in the chasing group dropped back for warm clothing, Marc Soler (Movistar) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) bridged up to Felline, gaining 25 seconds over the maglia azzurra group.

Pogacar attacked from the chasing group on the climb and left the rest behind and bridging across to Soler and Felline as De Marchi dropped back with 16km to go. Van Aert was briefly on his own in pursuit in the increasingly dismal weather conditions but once he caught De Marchi he found an ally to try to close down a 26 second gap to Pogacar's trio.

But the partnership didn't last long and as Pogačar left his companions behind so too did Van Aert. The Belgian caught Pogačar's cast-offs and was still within 30 seconds of the Tour de France winner who was in hot pursuit of Van der Poel.

Van der Poel, who had three minutes over the group on that penultimate climb now had just over a minute and the gap falling fast as Pogačar settled into time trial mode and a Van der Poel struggled up the final climb Pogačar had him in sight but Van der Poel had just enough to hold on for the stage win.