Vingegaard solos to stage win and leader's jersey at Tirreno - Adriatico

Jonas Vingegaard impressively won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. After clever teamwork, the two-time Tour winner left the competition behind on the San Giacomo before riding solo towards the finish line.

The first mountain stage in the seven-day stage race took the peloton from Torricella Sicura to Valle Castellana. The 145-kilometre stage included climbs of the Castellalto and the San Giacomo.

In a nervous race, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders held the breakaway of ten riders within reach of the bunch. With the climb of the San Giacomo ahead, the yellow-black formation increased the pace considerably. Thanks to the high pace, the escapees were caught, after which Attila Valter and Ben Tulett managed to set up team leader Vingegaard. The Dane launched his attack and began a successful solo of 30 kilometres. His fifth win of the season also earned him the blue leader's jersey.

Despite a concerted chase behind from GC rivals Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), the Visma-Lease A Bike rider steadily opened the gap, eventually finishing with 1:12 hand and taking the overall lead too.Second place went to Ayuso, who outsprinted Hindley for third from the six-rider chase group.

Egan Bernal retained sixth place overall at Paris-Nice following a spirited ride on Friday's sixth stage.  The Colombian crossed the line inside the yellow jersey group, taking 10th place on the stage to hold position on the GC heading into the weekend. The Grenadiers worked hard to set up Bernal, upping the tempo as the full team arrived on the front up the Col de Gourdon. 

"It's great that I could thank my teammates in this way," Vingegaard responded afterwards. "The guys did a fantastic job. I am hugely grateful for that. We had planned to make the race hard on the final climb and we did. Both Steven (Kruijswijk) and Dylan (van Baarle) were of great value in the first part of the stage. After that, it was up to Attila and Ben to keep the pace as high as possible on the uphill sections. I'm satisfied that I could finish it with a solo."

"It was a tough climb, so it was important to be able to maintain the pace," he continued. "I also knew I had to keep giving everything to keep the chasing group of favourites behind me. In the end, everything fell into place. I am looking forward to the last two stages."

The win means the Dane can approach tomorrow's mountain-top finish on tomorrow's penultimate stage in relative comfort. Monte Petrano, which climbs 10.2km at an average of 7.9% will test everyone's legs, coming at the end of a hilly 180km stage.

Chris Froome did not start stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico on Friday after sustaining a fractured wrist earlier in the race. The Israel-Premier Tech rider and four-time Tour de France winner crashed late on stage 2, but initial medical checkups did not reveal any broken bones and he raced on for two days.

HIGHLIGHTS: 2024 Tirreno - Adriatico Stage 5

2024 Tirreno - Adriatico Stage 5

1  VINGEGAARD Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike 3:28:27
2  AYUSO Juan UAE Team Emirates 1:12
3  HINDLEY Jai BORA - hansgrohe 1:12
4  O'CONNOR Ben Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 1:14
5  ARENSMAN Thymen INEOS Grenadiers 1:14
6  UIJTDEBROEKS Cian Team Visma | Lease a Bike 1:14
7  DEL TORO Isaac UAE Team Emirates 1:14
8  PIDCOCK Thomas INEOS Grenadiers 2:52
9  VAUQUELIN Kévin Arkéa - B&B Hotels 2:52
10  GRÉGOIRE Romain Groupama - FDJ 2:52

2024 Tirreno - AdriaticoGC after stage 5

1 VINGEGAARD Jonas TVL 18:34:45
2 AYUSO Juan UAD 0:54
3 HINDLEY Jai BOH 1:20
4 ARENSMAN Thymen IGD
5 O'CONNOR Ben DAT 1:32
6 DEL TORO Isaac UAD 1:34
7 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian TVL 2:12
8 VAUQUELIN Kévin ARK 2:54
9 TIBERI Antonio TBV 2:57
10 GRÉGOIRE Romain GFC 3:02