2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 5 Results & Recap
Stage 5 of the 2019 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Ackermann takes to his first Grand Tour like a duck to water – a win in purple!
Those who expected a sunny day in southern Italy were in for a surprise – the Giro d’Italia peloton slithered through a curtain of rain from start to finish. One of the most straightforward sprint finishes of the race so far turned into a dangerously wet course, which didn’t stop Pascal Ackermann from overpowering his rivals. On the front of the general classification, the final circuit of the race was neutralised - but pre-race favourite Tom Dumoulin stepped off his bike in the first ten kilometres of the stage.
As today’s stage was only a short one, the riders left Frascati late in the afternoon. Rain had been coming down all morning, and wasn’t about to stop. Two riders didn’t start today: Kristjan Koren (TBM) was suspended by the UCI in connection to the ongoing anti-doping investigation in Austria, while Daniel Navarro (AND) could not resume his ride after yesterday’s crash left him with severe injuries. Another victim of the crash, Tom Dumoulin, did get on his bike for today’s stage, but stepped off not long after kilometre zero. Before the stage, the GC contender had already announced he was 99% sure he wouldn’t be able to continue- but he needed to feel the road to be 100% sure. Along the route hill climber Jelle Vanendert too announced his Giro was at an end.
The road started with a climb, and quickly a break formed including Dumoulin’s teammate Louis Vervaeke. He was joined by Miguel Flórez (AND), Ivan Santaromita (NIP), Umberto Orsini and Enrico Barbin (both BAR). Initially Maglia Azzurra Giulio Ciccone was with this group as well, but he dropped back to the peloton quickly. The break was never allowed more than two minutes of advantage. At 53 kilometres from the finish, Vervaeke went solo to win the KOM of the day, after which his fellows were quickly caught. \nThe stage finish was slated to take place in Terracina on a lapped circuit. After protests from patrons of the pack –Vincenzo Nibali and Primoz Roglic most prominent among them- the final lap of the circuit was neutralised for the GC, with time gaps being measured at the first crossing of the finish line, 9 kilometre from the stage end. It was here that most GC contenders dropped off, and a reduced bunch continued to challenge for the stage.
More pro-continental sprinters than usual smelled their chance as the GC teams left gaps, but in the end it was a showdown between the big five that decided the stage. Although the trains for Ewan (LTS) and Démare (GFC) set the pace, it was Fernando Gaviria who went first. Viviani tried to keep Gaviria’s wheel, but bonked completely, ultimately finished last of the group of sprinters. Who did manage to keep Gaviria’s wheel, and overtake it in the final meter, was Pascal Ackermann.
This is what a victorious Ackermann told interviewers, visibly struggling to keep warm in the cold circumstances: “It was like two sprints for me – I had to break through at 200 metres and then again at the line, but Gaviria was like a lead-out man for me. The whole stage was scary, you can’t see much because of the water. It’s lucky nobody crashed. I hope we can continue like this and take the jersey to Verona!”\n
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