Younger Czech rider Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich PostNL) took his first WorldTour victory on Wednesday, rounding Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win stage 5 of the Vuelta a España.
The 21-year-old, racing his Grand Tour debut, got here off the wheel of the Belgian on the flat run-in into Sevilla, and timed his bike throw to win by a tyre’s width after an extended dash. His victory was confirmed by a photo-finish, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crossing the road in third.
Bittner’s win on the Vuelta comes simply over every week after his first professional victories earlier this month, when he received two phases of the Vuelta a Burgos.
“It is unbelievable,” he stated in Sevilla. “Only some days in the past I obtained my first professional win, so to get the win in my first Vuelta, I nonetheless do not imagine it.
“If we have a look at the previous few years, I feel with DSM, we have accomplished an enormous portion of labor. Plenty of work went into this, lots of people, and particularly within the last [kilometres], the entire crew was working actually, actually good. To beat Wout in an extended dash, he is probably the greatest lengthy sprinters on this planet, it is simply loopy.
“I informed the blokes, ‘Immediately we are able to actually do it. Guys, I actually imagine in myself.’ When the chance opened, I simply opened my dash and went full fuel to the road.”
The overall classification remained unchanged following stage 5, with Primož Roglič (Visma-Lease a Bike) nonetheless main by eight seconds forward of João Almeida (UAE Workforce Emirates).
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Rui Costa (EF Training-EasyPost) deserted the race following a crash inside the ultimate 10km.
The way it occurred
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
“The best stage of the entire race,” was how Van Aert described the day forward of him on the sign-on podium in Fuente del Maestre. Stage 5 was the one one billed as ‘flat’ by the race organisers, with no categorised climbs, and a easy finale in Sevilla.
The principle problem for the peloton could be the warmth, with temperatures edging on 40°C in southern Spain. In a bid to maintain cool, Marc Soler (UAE Workforce Emirates) was noticed consuming a Calippo by the beginning line.
Two riders have been courageous sufficient to take up the breakaway below the solar. Already two-time escapee on the race Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Phrama) was joined by first-timer Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) shortly after the flagdrop, forming an all-Spanish duo.
The pair lasted over 100km collectively by means of the sun-scorched fields. They have been caught with 38km to go, on the strategy to the stage’s solely intermediate dash, which was received by Groves forward of Van Aert.
Heading into Sevilla, it was Groves’s Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates who took cost of the pacing, hoping to arrange the Australian’s second victory of this yr’s version.
Van Aert launched his dash first, with round 200m to go, towing Bittner on his wheel. Bittner then edged over the Belgian’s proper shoulder with the end gantry in sight, earlier than the 2 of them tossed their bikes in unison, the Czech’s wheel the primary to cross the road.
Thursday’s sixth stage of the Vuelta a España counts 4 categorised climbs en path to Yunquera within the province of Málaga.
Outcomes
Vuelta a España stage 5: Fuente del Maestre > Sevilla (177km)
1. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-firmenich PostNL, in 4:25:28 2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike 3. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck 4. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis 5. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ 6. Corbin Sturdy (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech 7. Jhonatan Narváez (Eu) Ineos Grenadiers 8. Arne Marit (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty 9. Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan 10. Jésus Antonio Soto (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma, all at identical time
Basic classification after stage 5
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Crimson Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in 18:58:36 2. João Almeida (Por) UAE Workforce Emirates, +8s 3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +32s 4. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +38s 5. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Dstny, +41s 6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +47s 7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Workforce Emirates, +50s 8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +58s 9. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Fast-Step, at identical time 10. Aleksandr Vlasov, Crimson Bull – Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:00
