Primož Roglič snatches overall lead at Tirreno-Adriatico with stage five victory

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) took an impressive victory on stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico, taking over the overall lead in the process. 

On the race's Queen stage- a mountain top finish on the Sassotetto climb- The Jumbo-Visma man capitalised on indecision in a select group of riders, beating Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) to the line in a mass sprint finish. 

High winds effected much of the action on the final climb, with Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) being the first man to launch an attack. Caruso briefly opened up a gap of more than 20 seconds, before Enric Mas (Movistar) kicked on, taking Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) with him.

Once the duo had caught Caruso, bringing a select group with them, Ciccone and Geoghegan Hart both began to sprint although Roglič had other ideas.

Once the Slovenian launched his sprint, he timed his jump to perfection, passing the Trek and Ineos pair on the line to snatch another win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Before the race's Queen stage got underway, a decision was made to cut the summit finish at Sassotetto by 2.5 kilometres due to severe wind and rain at the top. 

Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) was in the overall lead after stage four, but it was widely anticipated that he would come under attack on the steep final climb. 

After the flag dropped, a variety of riders got up the road looking to establish a breakaway. Amongst them was Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Davide Ballerini (Soudal Quick-Step). Eventually as the road started to get bumpy, multiple other riders joined the move. They were Zdenek Stybar (Jayco-AIUla), Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic) and Florian Stork (DSM). 

Simmons would soon drop back to the peloton. The leaders had an advantage of two and a half minutes. With 67 kilometres left to race, Guglielmi would soon follow Simmons back to the main field being led by Bora-Hansgrohe. As the leaders approached the day's intermediate sprint, they rolled over it uncontested with Stybar taking maximum points.

The wind was heavily impacting the riders as they looked to put on rain jackets and other warm weather gear. Laurens de Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) was involved in a small crash but was soon back on his bike and riding again.

As the kilometres flew by, the breakaway was beginning to lose momentum. As they took on the San Ginesio, the first of three categorised climbs, their advantage was beginning to be drastically cut. With 48 kilometres to race the riders passed the base of the day’s final climb. They would then begin a loop involving more climbing, before returning to the base of Sassotetto to begin the final ascent. Fetter and Stybar were soon dropped by the leaders and back in the peloton.

With 40 kilometres left to race, Ineos Grenadiers suddenly appeared on the front of the main field. A high pace set by Michal Kwiatkowski and Filippo Ganna was causing the peloton to shatter. Jumbo-Visma, Bora-Hansgrohe and Movistar were also present, as riders began to think about the stage finale.

With 24 kilometres left of the day, it was all over for the breakaway. Ineos Grenadiers devoured the remnants of the leading group as the riders began the penultimate climb to Gualdo. As the gradient began to bite, Movistar jostled Ineos off the front of the peloton, as they looked to set up Enric Mas. 

As the peloton descended towards the base of the Sassotetto climb, the wind was so severe that riders were unclipping one foot after getting caught in the gusts. Movistar continued to drive the pace looking to make things difficult for the other stronger teams.

Once the Sassotetto began, all hell would break loose as UAE Team Emirates moved to the front of the bunch and began to shred the field. Davide Formolo put in a huge turn as UAE looked to position Adam Yates. With four kilometres to go, George Bennett took over the pace setting. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) was locked in on his back wheel. 

Suddenly Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) launched a huge attack looking to set up Mikel Landa. The Italian soon brought up a big advantage of 21 seconds as he entered the snowline on the climb. 

At just over a kilometre to the finish, Enric Mas launched a violent attack which soon brought Caruso back into the fold. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) was able to follow. As the pace stalled, it enabled a large group to reform with a whole host of favourites in contention. 

In the end, once Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart kicked for the line, Roglič was straight onto them. Once the Slovenian passed Ciccone, there would be no stopping him as he took a second successive stage win and took over the overall lead. 

STAGE FIVE RESULTS, MORRO D’ORO - SARNANO SASSOTETTO 166 kilometres

1. Primož Roglič  (SLO) Jumbo-Visma, in -4-38-32
2. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Trek-Segafredo,
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers,
4. Jai Hindley (AUS) Bora-Hansgrohe,
5. Lennard Kamna (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe,
6. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe,
7. Mikel Landa (SPA) Bahrain Victorious,
8. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates,
9. Damiano Caruso (ITA) Bahrain Victorious,
10. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, all same time

General Classification after stage five

1. Primož Roglič  (SLO) Jumbo-Visma, in 20-17-14
2. Lennard Kamna (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 4s
3. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates, at 12s
4. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team EMirates, at 17s
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 19s
6. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
7. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe, at 21s
8. Jai Hindley (AUS) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 22s
9. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Trek-Segafredo, at 24s
10. Enric Mas (SPA) Movistar, at 31s