Fabio Aru climbs to second and Richie Porte to third
Wednesday 13 May 2015 17:21, UK
Alberto Contador moved into the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia after the battle for the pink jersey burst into life on a mountainous fifth stage won by breakaway rider Jan Polanc.
Polanc (Lampre-Merida) formed part of the day’s five-man escape but attacked solo 11km from the summit finish at Abetone and hung on to win by 1min 31sec from runner-up Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling).
Fabio Aru (Astana), Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) finished just behind Chavanel in third, fourth and fifth places respectively after the trio had forged clear of the peloton with 5.5km of the climb remaining.
With previous race leader Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) having been dropped earlier in the ascent, Contador rose from fourth to first overall and now leads second-placed Aru by two seconds and third-placed Porte by 20 seconds.
The fourth of the pre-race favourites, Rigoberto Uran (Etixx - Quick-Step), lost 28 seconds to his rivals after enduring another difficult day and is now 1min 22sec down on Contador in 12th.
Riders tend to steer clear of taking the overall lead too early in a grand tour in order to avoid inviting pressure on their team, but Contador, who has never relinquished a lead of a three-week race in his career, was happy with the day's outcome.
He said: “It is a good result because Uran is dropped and other riders [as well]. OK, Aru and Richie are very strong, but I think it is a very good situation after five stages. I am very happy because having the pink jersey is incredible, but we could lose it tomorrow, for example.”
After Tinkoff-Saxo and then Astana had set the pace on the front of the peloton for the first half of the final climb, Contador attacked 5.5km out and only Aru, Porte and later Mikel Landa (Astana) could follow.
Porte and Aru then launched attacks of their own, but both were snuffed out and the three race favourites ended up sprinting for the four bonus seconds on offer for third place on the day, which Aru claimed comfortably.
Slovenian Polanc, 23, who took the first professional win of his career, said: "I have been waiting for a long time for my first victory and I tried a lot with breakaways this year, and finally I reached the finish line. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Stage five result
1 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida, 4:09:18
2 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling, +1:31
3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, same time
4 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
5 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, st
6 Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, +1:44
7 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana, +1:53
8 Yuri Trofimov (Rus) Katusha, st
9 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing, st
10 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing, st
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, 16:05:54
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +2secs
3 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +20secs
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo, +22
5 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana, +28
6 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +37
7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, +56
8 Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, +1:01
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, +1:15
10 Andrey Amador (Cos) Movistar, +1:18
