Giro d’Italia Stage 5 Race Report: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) added the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia to his palmarès. The Danish pink jersey wearer had a hard time in the difficult final kilometres to Matera, but he did cross the finish line just ahead of Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5). Of course Pedersen held the overall lead.
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The final 5K
The fifth stage from Ceglie Messapica to Matera is short at 145km, flat to start with and a hilly finale. The climb to Montescaglioso (2.8km at 8.6%) comes 30 kilometres from the finish and a 7.1km climb at 3.5% to Tramontano will be important.
Then there is a steep climb of 700m at 7.9%, with the summit 1.7km from the finish, makes the finale in Matera suitable for attackers like Van Aert or Pedersen. Although it was Arnaud Démare who won here in 2020.
Another day in pink for Mads Pedersen
Ita was Giosue Epis (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Davide Bais (Polti-VisitMalta) who were first to set up an early break of the day. Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) also joined them a little later.
The Giro tifosi were out in Ceglie Messapica to see the peloton leave town
Davide Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta) got the break going
The were no problem for Lidl-Trek, the team of pink jersey Mads Pedersen, who let the three go. Jacopo Mosca did most of the work, but four Visma | Lease a Bike riders took over at the intermediate sprint in Massafra. Pedersen shot to the front and took the 3 remaining points for the points classification ahead of Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck). At the second intermediate sprint, the result was the same.
Could it be a day for Van Aert and Pidcock?
The peloton pushed on at a steady pace, as the leaders were giving their all towards the steep Montescaglioso climb, which started the finale. As expected, Lidl-Trek increased the pace. This got rid of the first sprinters; Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty). It was also a bit too hard for Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R).
The peloton didn’t give the break much space
The other fast-finishers tried to hang on. Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) must have had confidence from his stage win on Tuesday and was there for a long time, as did Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Only when UAE Emirates-XRG added to the speed with the summit in sight, they too were dropped. They lost more than a minute in a short time, and the main group now consisted of only 40 riders.
A lot of teams started to chase as they got nearer the final ramps of the day
Milesi took 18 KOM points at the top of the Montescaglioso, Bais was still hanging on. But the lead had shrunk considerably due to all the work behind and soon the escapees were in trouble. The peloton eased a little, allowing the group with Groves to rejoin. About 100 riders headed for the last difficult sections.
There was going to be a battle
The first bit of false flat caused a few to be dropped. Wout van Aert dropped back 4 kilometres from the finish after strong lead work for his GC man, Simon Yates. But the steep final climb in the last 2.5 kilometres was still to come. Pedersen was perfectly positioned for the finale, but the first hard push came from Primoz Roglič.
The move didn’t work for the Slovenian and Mathias Vacek took over from Pedersen. The white jersey wearer didn’t see that his leader, Pedersen was in trouble due to that high pace. On the slightly flatter section with 1.5 kilometres to go, Vacek had to counter several attacks. Pedersen was able to move up again in the meantime. The Czech domestique managed to put in a perfect lead-out for his Danish leader. Pedersen was also the first to sprint, but Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and then Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) come very close. In the end, the pink jersey had just a few centimetres on Zambanini and won his third stage in five days.
Pedersen just got it from Zambanini
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Giro d’Italia Stage 5 Result:
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek in 3:27:31
2. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
3. Tom Pidcock (GB) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
4. Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Movistar
5. Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè
6. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor
7. Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8. Brandon Rivera (Col) INEOS Grenadiers
9. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
10. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 5:
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