Tirreno-Adriatico: Warren Barguil takes solo victory on stage 5

Image 1 of 22

Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) won stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico from the breakaway, attacking his fellow escapees on the series of short, steep climbs in the final 30km and soloing up to the finish in Fermo.

After a long battle for it to form, the breakaway eventually had its day, but it might not have done if not for a dramatic twist of events that saw race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) take a wrong turn alongside Remo Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ahead of the final climb.

Evenepoel had attacked at the top of the penultimate little climb and, missing a right-hand bend, led the trio off course with 6km to go. While Pogačar and Vingegaard quickly corrected the error, Evenepoel was slower to turn around and had to desperately haul his way back onto the reduced main bunch.

He just about managed to do so ahead of the double-digit gradients of the final climb, and then held firm with Pogačar and Vingegaard all the way up to the finish, where he shook his head as he came across the line.

Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix) trailed Barguil over the line to take second place at 10 seconds, with Simone Velasco (Astana) claiming the final podium spot. In the end, Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) was the only other survivor from the break as the overall favourites stormed up the final incline, with Richie Porte (Ineos) leading home the group with Pogačar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard.

The gaps between that trio of overall favourites remained the same as at the start of the day, with Pogačar retaining the blue leader’s jersey. The main change to the general classification was Filippo Ganna falling away and tumbling down from third overall, with Thymen Arensman (DSM) moving into the third podium spot behind Pogacar and Evenepoel, and ahead of Vingegaard.

While all that drama was unfolding behind, Barguil was dealing with the 20 per cent gradients on the final climb of what was dubbed ‘the wall stage’ of the 2022 Tirreno-Adriatico. The Frenchman had been part of a 12-man break that only formed after 65km of breathless racing and emerged as the strongest as the short sharp climbs intensified in the final 30km.

Set up by teammate Clement Russo, Barguil made his first move on the first climb into Fermo with 20km to go and he bided his time on the penultimate climb before making his big victory play on the super-steep early gradients of the 3.5km final climb. By the top of that first section, he had found 20 seconds on Meurisse and Velasco, and he held firm on the next ramps up through the narrow cobbled streets of the old town.

He began to fade a little on the savage final ramps on the open road up to the line but by then had done enough and raised his arms to celebrate his first WorldTour victory since his pair of stages at the 2017 Tour de France.

In terms of the battle for the general classification, it was a breathless final few kilometres. It had looked like the breakaway was nailed on for success with 10km to go as the escapees had over two minutes in hand, but a surge from Pogačar’s teammate Marc Soler on the penultimate climb threw things back into the balance.

Evenepoel then launched a stinging acceleration over the top and drew Pogačar and Vingegaard out into a leading trio but it was short-lived as they all failed to spot a right-hand turn. By the time they got themselves to the finish, their deficit to Barguil was just 25 seconds - in the region of the time they spent turning themselves around.

After a strong showing on Thursday, Richie Porte led home the favourites’ group for fifth place and actually gained two seconds, with Pogačar crossing next in sixth alongside Vingegaard and Enric Mas (Movistar). A disgruntled Evenepoel finished on the same time, with Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) the other members of that first GC group.

Arensman, Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) lost several more seconds, while Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) lost just under 20 seconds in the end.

Pogačar retains his lead of nine seconds over Evenepoel, with Arensman now third at 43 seconds and Vingegaard fourth at 45 seconds. Lopez rounds out the top five at one minute while Porte overtakes Geoghegan Hart into sixth and possibly takes over team leadership, too. Hindley, Mas, and Kelderman round out the top 10, all within 1:15 of Pogačar.

The race is set to be decided on Saturday’s queen stage, which features a double ascent of the Monte Carpegna, ahead of the flatter finale on Sunday.

How it unfolded

Stage 5 was the shortest of the race at 155km, taking the riders from Sfero over the Fermo, with the race already nearing the Adriatic coast ahead of the final weekend. As per recent tradition, this was the ‘tappa dei muri’ - or stage of walls - and packed in numerous short climbs with severe gradients. 

It was fertile ground for a breakaway and there was no shortage of appetite to be in it, resulting in a hectic start. The gentle downhill early kilometres were always going to be fast but the intensity was upheld on the snowy climb to Valico di Pietra Rossa at kilometre-35, with QuickStep-AlphaVinyl setting the tempo and marking moves. 

The situation continued down the other side, where the peloton split in two, although the main favourites remained up front. A trio of attackers - Oliveira, Russo, and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) - then went clear over a couple of smaller lumps, and were later joined by seven more: Barguil, Velasco, Vincenzo Albanese, Francesco Gavazzi (Eolo-Kometa), Davide Ballerini (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo), Jhonatan Restrepo (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli). Finally, two more latecomers - Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix) - made it across after 65km to make it a breakaway of 12 riders. 

At the same time, the peloton stitched itself back together as the front of it started to ease up and called a nature break. From there, the race proceeded in a more familiar format, with UAE taking charge of the peloton. Pogacar’s teammates were quick to work but they let the break build a significant advantage that topped out at four minutes at Monte Urano, just after the first proper wall climb. 

The peloton sped things up and made inroads on the flat 10km run-in to the hills of the final 30km and the breakaway took on the first of them with 3:15 in hand. Russo sacrificed himself for Barguil and set the tempo on the road up to Capodarco. The group remained in tact onto the subsequent plateau but the road then tilted up even more viciously on the road up into Fermo. Barguil immediately attacked and drew out Thomas, with the pair going clear to take on the climb up through the old town and towards the finish. 

They didn’t go through the line itself, peeling off before the final ramp and onto the finishing circuit, where they were caught by most of their companions. In the end, only Russo and Brambilla were dropped for good, and the rest continued as a 10 down towards the final two climbs. 

It was largely downhill to the penultimate wall, and UAE Team Emirates seemingly backed off in their chase, allowing the gap to remain at 2:10 with just 10km to go. Meurisse and Velasco dictated the tempo and accelerated over the top but Barguil, Oliveira, Thomas, Ferron, Restrepo, Gavazzi, and Albanese all remained in contention.

Behind, Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) sensed the lull and attacked but UAE soon lit things back up with a huge turn from Marc Soler as the climb began. Towards the top, Evenepoel launched a big move and Pogacar was straight onto it. Vingegaard was also quick to react and they went clear as a trio, soon linking up with Brambilla from the break. 

They rapidly brought the gap to the leaders down to a minute and it looked like they’d crush the dreams of the breakaway but suddenly Brambilla emerged through a right-hand turn and the other three didn’t. They’d all missed it, despite marshalls seemingly signalling it. 

Evenepoel was on the front and was the slowest to react and turn around, leaving him in a desperate situation. Somehow, Pogacar and Vingegaard corrected the situation in the blink of an eye and were in the main reduced peloton, but Evenepoel had to chase hard up the uncategorised incline ahead of the final climb. On the final downhill dip he found teammate Davide Ballerini for support and just about managed to regain contact just as the 20 per cent face of the final wall rose up before him. 

The breakaway were already on it, and in fact Barguil had attacked in anticipation of it, going clear with Ferron on that uncategorised incline before dropping him on those 20 per cent gradients. From there, Meurisse and Velasco lashed out in riposte but couldn’t get near the Frenchman, who crested it with 20 seconds in hand. 

The job was not done, however. He still had 2km and a two separate ramps to tame. He appeared composed until the top of the narrow cobbled section, where his head suddenly started bobbing wildly. After a brief respite, the road cruelly kicked again for the long dragstrip up to the line, where bargirl sprang from the saddle, looked around repeatedly, and then finally sat up and basked in a major win that was a long time coming.