Tour of the Alps stage 5 – Live coverage

Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 5 of the Tour of the Alps.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height over the mountains near Lake Garda, the stage is just underway.

There are 123 riders in action today, with Jai Hindley (Team DSM) a non-starter after his crash on the final descent yesterday. 

After a short 1.6km neutralised zone, the stage is on but for now, the peloton is all together.

With another mountainous stage on the menu, some riders were on the rollers pre-stage to warm-up. 

Today's stage is short at 120.9km, but we expect it to be fast and furious.  

As always, we will have all the action, with live updates and then post-race information, quotes and photos. 

After a flat 20km along the valley from Lago d'Idro, the riders face the Passo Duron (6.4 km to 7.9%) and the Valico del Ballino before two laps of the tough Riva del Garda circuit.

The route climbs to Lago Tenno and then down to Riva del Garda before the final 40km and two laps of the circuit that includes the Pranzo climb up to Lago Tenno. 

It will be a day of climbing ability and bike skills.

There have been a number of attacks but no break has formed yet.

Eolo, EF and Israel riders are all trying to get in the break of the day. They are convinced it could make it all the way to the finish and so offer the chance of a stage victory.

Simon Yates and his Bike Exchange teammates will be looking to carefully the leader's green jersey. 

The riders are on the Roncone climb that is not categorised. The attacks are still coming and the blue Astana jerseys are prominent on the front, trying to get into the attacks.    

Israel Start-Up Nation are on the attack, with Dan Martin in a move.

Nico Roche and Tejay van Garderen are also in the attack of 8 riders.

95km to go

The eight attackers are: Pronskiy (Astana), Grossschartner (Bora), De Marchi and Martin (Israel), Gallopin (Ag2r), Roche and Storer (Team DSM) and Van Garderen (Education Nippo).

Martin has De Marchi in the break for support. 

It will be interesting to see how much freedom the peloton gives Martin.

He crashed on the descent yesterday and slipped to 4:00 in the GC. however I'm sure Bike Exchange would rather see him in the peloton.

to read our full stage report from yesterday, to understand  Martin crashed, how Bilbao won and how Yates kept the race lead, click below.

Tour of the Alps: Pello Bilbao wins stage 4

Other riders have joined the attack and the peloton has eased up. 

Chasing the eight are: Scotson, Pernsteiner, Amezqueta, Sosa, Bidard and Steinhauser.

The peloton is at 2:30. 

The race hits the Passo Duron, so we can expect a shake of the attacks and understand the chase of the peloton. 

Whatever happens, Bike Exchange will have to chase the break all day to ensure Dan Martin does not get away. Other team in the GC may help them, while the riders in the break will not be too happy to see Martin with them. 

The Passo Duron is 6.9km long at 8%. 

A front group of 16 riders have formed but the climb will shake then out.

The peloton is at 2:50. This is getting interesting.

The 16 attackers are: Pronskiy, Grossschartner, De Marchi, Martin, Gallopin, Roche, Storer, Van Garderen, Pinot, Fabbro, Schultz, Pernsteiner, Amezqueta, Bidard, Steinhaser and Sosa.

It's interesting to see Thibaut Pinot in the group as he tests his back problem and moral before making a decision on riding the Giro d'Italia.

80km to go

At the top of the Passo Duron, the break leads by  De Marchi was first to the top, ahead of Pinot and Sosa. 

Thanks to taking maximum points, De Marchi has retaken the lead in the KOM competition.

Bike Exchange lead the peloton over the Passo Duron at 2:25. 

On the descent the gap has fallen slightly. The riders face another gradual valley climb to Ballino and then descent to Riva del Garda.  

The fast valley road to Lago di Tenno is helping the peloton close the gap. It is down to 1:45 now.

Cycling is far more than just road racing and os is Cyclingnews and our sister site Bikeperfect. 

We recently caught up with former pro, turned gravel and adventure rider Laurens ten Dam about his plans for 2021. 

The Dutchman’s 2020 season was scuppered by the global pandemic but all being well he will head to North America in May to take on the first of a cluster of gravel events before then jetting off to Kenya for one of the most highly anticipated gravel events of the season, the Migration Race. 

Click below to read the full story.

Hipflask at the ready as Laurens ten Dam gears up for gravel and bikepacking adventures 

Bike Exchange are looking to use their strength on the valley road to reduce the gap on the Dan Martin attack. Once the climb on the Riva del Garda circuit starts, Yates could have just one or two riders in support, so best to use up the other riders now.

They're in hot pursuit and the gap is down to 1:30.

The riders are on the long fast descent to the edge of Lake Garda. 

After five days in the mountains, they will be happy to be near sea level. 

However the climbing continues in the final 40km of the stage, with two climbs up to Lago di Tenno and two fast descents. 

The break is down to 15 riders for a moment after Felix Grossschartner suffered a mechanical problem. But he quickly gets back on.

Australian national champion Cameron Mayer does the hard work on the front for Bike Exchange.

45km to go

The gap is down to 1:10 as the race nears Riva del Garda. 

The attack has split on the city centre streets. 

The climb starts almost straight away with two laps of 22km to race.

There are 7 riders in the front group. 

Pinot is there but surprisingly Dan Martin is not.

Kevin Colleoni and Mikel Nieve are on the front for Bike Exchange. A mix of talented young and Grand Tour experience.

The climb is switching up the mountainside. 

The break has pushed their lead out to 2:00, perhaps because in the absence of Dan Martin, they are no longer a GC threat.

Trek have taken over at the front of the peloton, perhaps with plan for the stage victory. 

Trek team leader Vincenzo Nibali has been cleared to resume riding on the road a little over a week after he fractured the radius of his right wrist in a training crash. 

The Trek-Segafredo rider was forced to miss the Tour of the Alps due to the injury but is still hoping to start the Giro d’Italia, which gets underway on May 8.

Click below for the full story. 

Vincenzo Nibali cleared to test wrist injury on the road ahead of Giro d'Italia

The work of Trek has lined out the peloton, hurting a lot of riders.

The break is near the summit. 

There are two big chase groups.

Astana is also on the front, so the gap is down to 1:10 at the summit.

The descent back to Riva del Garda is fast and so the break is trying to stay away.

Mamma mia! Gianluca  Brambilla almost crashed on the descent!

He's trying to go across to the break but overcooked the fast curve. After his bike flicked, he just kept it up.

These are the riders left in the break as they near Riva del Garda.

Pinot, Grossschartner, De Marchi, Gallopin, Roche, Amezqueta, Steinhauser

But they seem to have lost speed, as Brambilla catches Dan Martin and is at 45 seconds. 

The peloton is at 1:00.

The bell rings out to signal the start of the final 22km lap. 

The peloton has closed down Brambilla and Martin. It seems a battle for the stage now, with Storer distanced as the final climb begins. 

It is 7km long and suits the better climbers like Pinot. However De Marchi and Roche could be threats too.

Yates seems cool and in control. He has two riders in front of him and one behind.

The gap is down to 45 seconds, making it tempting for attacks behind.

Boom! 

Grossschartner attacks and blows the break apart.

The Bora riders is on form and quickly opens a gap on the rest.  

Crash in the peloton!

An Astana rider touches wheels and goes down hard, taking others down too.

Vlasov avoided the Astana crash and so is in the Yates group.

Grossschartner has opened a 30-second gap. It will be hard for anyone to catch him. 

Grossschartner is in the big ring but spinning his way up the climb. The former skier has bags of power. 

His lead is up to 45 seconds.

The peloton is sweeping up some of the riders from the attack but is at 1:30. 

This is all a valuable lesson for Yates and Bike Exchange before the Giro d'Italia.

They also need to learn how to respond to attacks. 

Quintana tries one but Bike Ex close it down with style.

There are only 30 or so riders in the peloton due to the high speed on the climb.

At the top of the climb Yates has Nic Schultz riding for him on the front.

Schultz is tenth overall and will have a key role at the Tour de France.

10km to go

Grossschartner and the peloton begin the fast descent to the finish in Riva del Garda.

Here is Yates in the leader's jersey.

Grossschartner is diving through the series of hairpins, accelerating on the long straights on the side of the mountains.

5km to go

Grossschartner on the attack.

Grossschartner( or Großschartner) was second on stage 3 behind Moscon, so is on form.

Roche and De Marchi are trying to stay away from the peloton but they are close to being caught.

2km to go

Felix Großschartner is close to victory.

So too is Simon Yates!

Felix Großschartner is able to sit up in the twisting final roads of the stage.

He won this stage very well.

Felix Großschartner wins stage 5 of the Tour of the Alps!

Roche and De Marchi stay away to take second and third.

Gianni Moscon brings home the peloton to take fourth as Simon Yates finishes safely in the peloton to secure overall victory.

Yates can open the prosecco on the podium.

He is the second British rider to win the race after Geraint Thomas in 2017.

Here's the moment Felix Großschartner won the stage.  

The Tour of the Alps is Simon Yates's third stage race win. He won the Vuelta a España 2018 and Tirreno-Adriatico 2020. 

This is the top ten for  the stage and the final GC.

Yates takes the top step on the final podium. 

Alongside him are Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana)

They open the Moser spumante and spray each other. 

The final GC shows Bilbao was second at 58 seconds, with Vlasov third at 1:06.

Alexander Cepeda (Androni) was fourth at 2:25 and the young Colombian won the best young rider competition. 

Alessandro De Marchi won the blue KOM jersey and Felix Engelhardt (Tirol KTM) won the intermediate sprints jersey.

Here's overall winner Simon Yates on the podium.

To read our full stage report, click below.

Simon Yates wins Tour of the Alps

In other news today on Cyclingnews, Ineos Grenadiers have told Cyclingnews that Egan Bernal is “still riding the Giro” after reports in Italy suggested he could be forced to miss the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France due a recurrence of his back problems.

Click below for the full story. 

Ineos play down reports Egan Bernal could miss Giro d’Italia due to back problem

incenzo Nibali has been cleared to resume riding on the road a little over a week after he fractured the radius of his right wrist in a training crash. 

The Trek-Segafredo rider was forced to miss the Tour of the Alps due to the injury but is still hoping to start the Giro d’Italia, which gets underway on May 8.

Click below to understand if Nibali can be a contender at the Corsa Rosa.

Vincenzo Nibali cleared to test wrist injury on the road ahead of Giro d'Italia

The Cyclingnews live coverage will be back in full force on Sunday for the men's and women's liege-Bastogne-Liege races. 

This year we have full live coverage of all the women's WorldTour races.

Teams and riders were out training on the course today, with Anna van der Breggen and Julian Alaphilippe getting new rainbow-stripped bikes.

Click here to see the new colours.

Alaphilippe and Van der Breggen given new rainbow-themed Tarmac SL7 bikes

Thanks again for joining our live coverage from the Tour of the Alps. We'll have more stage race live coverage next week from the Tour de Romandie.