Miguel Angel Lopez wins Ruta del Sol

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Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) won his second victory of the Ruta del Sol on stage 5 after a crash on the finish line helped the British rider to victory. 

Hayter went for a long sprint only for Daryl Impey (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Robert Stannard (Team BikeExchange) to come alongside the Ineos rider. 

However, 50 metres before the line Stannard and Impey collided with both riders crashing out and Hayter taking the victory. 

Behind the crash, Philip Walsleben (Alpecin-Fenix) sneaked through for second, while Toms Skujins (Trek - Segafredo) placed third. 

Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) secured the overall victory with Antwan Tolhoek (Team Jumbo-Visma) 20 seconds back in second, while Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural- Seguros) was third overall one minute and 10 seconds down. 

The Alto de la Geoda climb topped out five kilometres from the finish with Ineos Grenadiers splitting the bunch before the descent into the finish with Hayter just hanging on over the top. 

“The stage was short and was flat out on the last climb and I just about hung on the back,” said Hayter. 

“The sprint was crosswind so I let Carlos go and got up to him. (Robert) Stannard and (Daryl) Impey were coming but I don’t know what happened. 

“It’s not the way you want to finish a sprint but that’s bike racing. I was looking forward and in your peripheral vision, you could see them coming and then all of a sudden they disappeared. 

“At first I thought they would come flying into me then all of a sudden I was across the line and that was the end of the race. 

“My team were amazing as they have pretty much every day. We ended up with Carlos (Rodriguez) in fourth and I was eighth so it’s pretty good.” 

How it unfolded

A breakaway group of three riders established their lead early in the race including Julien Mertens (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) Mertens, Unai Cuadrado (Euskatel – Euskadi) and Ander Okamika (Burgos – BH) 

Riders completed two ascents of the Alto de la Geoda climb with the first coming 40 kilometres from the finish by which time the breakaway had a gap of around two minutes. 

Adre Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) was without a win last season but after taking his second race of 2021 the previous day into Cúllar Vega he was helping to bring the breakaway back on the first Alto de la Geoda ascent for Daryl Impey. 

Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel - Euskadi) was confirmed as king of the mountains after the breakaway swept up the points at the top. 

The gap to the breakaway continued to drop as a final battle up the Alto de la Geoda awaited with the bunch sitting at less than a minute with 28 kilometres remaining. 

After Hayter won the second stage to Alcalá la Real, Ineos Grenadiers were also helping to pull the breakaway back for the green sprinter’s jersey wearer despite sitting two points behind overall leader Lopez in the competition. 

However, the leading trio were providing a challenge themselves and kept the gap at around a minute in the last 19 kilometres with Mertens, Cuadrado and Okamika all working well together. 

Their lead quickly reduced as the bunch raced into the Alto de la Geoda climb and they were caught on the uphill approach to the final climb with 10 kilometres remaining. 

Ineos Grenadiers placed four riders on the front for Hayter on the low slopes led by Luke Rowe as they looked to keep the pace high and lining out the field with seven kilometres to go. 

After Ineos split the large peloton, a small group of riders 30 riders were left to compete for stage honours as they reached the steepest section of the climb. 

Team BikeExchange kept the pace on with Tsgabu Grmay leading over the top onto the fast approach for the finish with just 11 riders in the leading group. 

A mechanical problem ended the hopes of Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) as the front group entered the last two kilometres. 

Team Ineos led out the sprint for Hayter who left a gap for team-mate Carlos Rodriguez to lead out before rushing into the gap and going for a long sprint. 

Daryl Impey (Israel Start-Up Nation) led the sprint behind came along Hayter and looked to be moments away from victory. 

However, 50 metres before the line Robert Stannard (Team BikeExchange) to came alongside Impey who moved left colliding with the Australian with both riders crashing out and Hayter taking the victory. 

That sparked angry scenes with Stannard unhappy that he had been taken down in the sprint while the win meant Hayter secured the sprinter’s jersey. 

Philip Walsleben (Alpecin-Fenix) finished second in the frantic sprint while Toms Skujins (Trek - Segafredo) finished third.