Primoz Rogliz is already leader of Tirreno-Adriatico

The weather marked the outcome of the queen stage of Tirreno-Adriatico with the finish at the Sassotetto station, leading to the arrival of a reduced group, a situation in which Primoz-Roglic, today, is practically unbeatable. The Slovenian also wins the leader's maglia azzurra, which will be very difficult to lose in the remaining two stages.

Primoz Rogliz is already leader of Tirreno-Adriatico

The very strong wind prevailing in half of Europe stole much of the show in this 5th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, although it was something compared to what happened in Paris-Nice whose stage had to be canceled for the same reason. In fact, even before the start, once the weather forecast was known, the stage was shortened by 2 kilometers because the finish line at Sassotetto could not be located in the place initially chosen. No problem since the alternative still respected the hardest part of this climb and the finish coincided with the place that saw, in 2018, the triumph of Mikel Landa.

The wind, essentially headwind for most of the stage, made the peloton slow down the pace for most of the stage, which gave air to the breakaway of the day, composed of 6 riders among which we can highlight the presence of Zdenek Stybar, Davide Ballerini or Anthony Perez.

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The peloton allowed to do until about 30 kilometers to the end, before the ascent to the two small passes, San Ginesio and Gualdo, which preceded the final climb, INEOS Grenadiers moved to the head of the peloton trying to harden the pace, but unsuccessfully and that, if there is something about the headwind is that it makes you suffer a lot at the front while at the wheel you go very comfortably.

A few kilometers ahead it was Movistar Team who sought to set the pace to meet the possibilities of Enric Mas, but their work had the same effect as that of the British squad when they began the final 10 kilometers of ascent to Sassotetto, a hard climb with long areas maintained above 10% gradient.

However, the strong prevailing wind left no room for movement. Only Damiano Caruso dared to try it with just over 5 kilometers to go, gaining an advantage of 20 seconds, more because of the vigilance among the favorites than for other reasons.

We saw no action until the riders had the final kilometer banner in sight when Enric Mas made a good move, which for a few moments looked like it might work, cutting off both leader Lennard Kamna and Primoz Roglic, taking only Buitrago, Ciccone, Landa and Carthy on his wheel. However, they found no collaboration and were caught thanks to the work of a powerful Wilco Kelderman.

Jai Hindley was trying to launch the sprint and it seemed that the stage would be played against Tao Geoghegan when, appearing out of nowhere with force from behind, came Primoz Rogliz, with Ciccone in an unsuccessful attempt to catch him, to steal not only the stage but also the lead of the general classification that he gets, bonuses through, by just 4 seconds.

An advantage that might seem meager but, given the profile of tomorrow's stage, with a finish that is also ideal for Primoz Roglic's characteristics, it is very difficult to imagine that any rider could take the victory from him unless there is a crash or a mechanical problem. Sunday's completely flat stage should be another opportunity for the sprinters in what for many will be the last day of competition before Milan-San Remo on the 18th.

Classification Stage 5

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 4h38’32’’
2. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) +00’’
3. Tao Geoghegan (INEOS Grenadiers) +00’’
4. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00’’
5. Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00’’
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00’’
7. Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) +00’’
8. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +00’’
9. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) +00’’
10. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +00’’

Overall Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 20h17’14’’
2. Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +04
3. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +12’’
4. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +17’’
5. Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) +19’’
6. Tao Geoghegan (INEOS Grenadiers) +19’’
7. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +21’’
8. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +22’’
9. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) +24’’
10. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +31’’