Angel Madrazo takes first mountain top finish as Lopez grabs race lead

Burgos BH's Angel Madrazo took stage victory on the first mountain stage of La Vuelta from the breakaway while Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez attacks

31 year old Madrazo who was dropped by his teammate Jetse Bol (Burgos BH) and José Herrada (Cofidis) on the final climb, but came back to attack in the final hundred metres on the brutal climb of Javalambre.

The peloton faced its first mountain finish in the Alto de Javalambre, a first category climb after 170kms. Three riders; Angel Madrazo and Jetse Bol from Burgos BH and José Herrada (Cofidis) got away and built up a lead of over 10 minutes.

Behind the peloton prepared for their own race, as Team Ineos, Astana and Jumbo Visma set the pace as the Sprinters dropped off at the foot of the climb. With seven kilometres to go, Madrazo started to struggle and was dropped by Bol and Herrada, but he fought back, only to be dropped again.

José Herrada (Cofidis) looked the strongest of the trio to win the stage.

In the thinning peloton, EF Education First came to the front and set a high pace and the first GC rider to be dropped was like Wilco Kelderman. With three kilometres to go, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) attacked and split the favorites, leaving Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran, Nairo Quintana and Rafal Majka behind, while Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) stayed on his wheel.

With 2 kms to go, Lopez counter attacked and left Valverde and Roglic in his wake. Up front Madrazo got back to his two breakaway companions, and stunned them with an attack, José Herrada (Cofidis) couldn't respond giving Burgos BH the win.

Bol and Herrada crossed the finish line just behind, then Lopez who took the lead in the General Classification, while Roglic and Valverde finished 12 seconds behind the Colombian.

Roglic climbed to fourth position overall and sits in the second place, Quintana dropped to the third position, Valverde is in the fourth place and Nicolas Roche closes the top five of the race. Nicolas Roche fought hard to finish 2m 17s down on the stage winner.

Burgos BH just showed the world what a Pro Continental team can do when invited to a Grand Tour!

Both Stage 6 and Stage 7 feature mountain top finishes, while Stage 8 sees another tough climb before the finish line, one's the Sprinters won't be looking forward too.

VIDEO: 2019 La Vuelta Stage 5 Highlights

2019 La Vuelta Stage 5 Top 10

1 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 4:58:31 
2 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:00:10 
3 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:22 
4 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47 
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:59 
6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma   
7 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:29 
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:01:41 
9 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma   
10 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:46

2019 La Vuelta GC after Stage 5 Top 10

1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 18:55:21 
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:14 
3 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:23 
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:28 
5 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 0:00:57 
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:00:59 
7 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:17 
8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:18 
9 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:49 
10 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:50