Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage Report: On a stage that looked nearly tailor-made for the sprinters, a break managed to hold off a fast finishing peloton by 11 seconds for the win. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) out-sprinted his escape colleagues; Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ). Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won the bunch sprint for 5th place ahead of Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla). there was no change on the overall lead as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) finished safely in the peloton.
Stage 5: Last KM
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A win the Cofidis team needed – Ben Thomas
Benjamin Thomas won the fifth stage of the 2024 Giro d’Italia in Lucca. The Frenchman of Cofidis was the best of a leading group that surprised the sprinters after 180 kilometres. Thomas got the better of Michael Valgren, Andrea Pietrobon and Enzo Paleni. The peloton was too late: Jonathan Milan won the sprint for fifth place 11 seconds later.
Stage 5 profile
The stage follows the Tyrrhenian coast. The 179 kilometre stage has two climbs, two intermediate sprints and should be another chance for the sprinters, with only 1,700 meters of climbing. The first climb of the day is the Cat.3 Passo del Bracco, it is 15.2 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 3.9%. It comes more than 115 kilometres from the finish, so shouldn’t affect the final. What could make a difference is the Montemagno (3km at 4.3%), but most sprinters should manage.
Matching shorts today for overall leader Tadej Pogačar
Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa) and Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) were the first rider to attack. They had Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) with them, but the Frenchman was dropped. His place at the front was taken by Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
A nice day on the Tyrrhenian coast
In the peloton, Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Deceuninck took control. The gap was held at 2 minutes as the sprinter’s teams didn’t want to give the leaders too much time, it was eventually reduced to 1 minute. On the long climb of the Passo del Bracco, Alpecin-Deceuncinck took the lead for Kaden Groves. The first victim among the sprinters was Fabio Jakobsen.
Leaving the coast for a bit of climbing
On the last 5 kilometres of the Bracco, Caleb Ewan and Tim Merlier were also in trouble, but they limited the damage and were able to rejoin the peloton. Simon Geschke took the most points at the summit, but the peloton wasn’t far behind and caught them on the descent. The early break of the day ended more than 100 kilometres before the finish, but that wasn’t the end of the story
The early break – Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizane’), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Mattia Bais (Polti Kometa)
After the descent of the Passo del Bracco, Alpecin-Deceuninck eased off, causing the peloton to come to a standstill. This gave Jakobsen, Julius van den Berg and Gijs Leemreize to close in on the peloton. At one point the Dutch riders were at 4 minutes behind. At 90 kilometres from the finish they made contact.
The UAE team were looking after Pogačar, until Alpecin-Deceuninck took over
Jakobsen didn’t fight in the next intermediate sprint. Kaden Groves beat Olav Kooij and Jonathan Milan. There was a bad crash involving Christophe Laporte, who hit a hole in the road. The Frenchman was able to continue, but had a long chase to catch the peloton. Shortly after the intermediate sprint, there was a new break of four riders: Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa).
The break held out very well
The four never had more than 2 minutes and started the Montemagno (3 km at 4.3%) with less than a minute. Lidl-Trek did everything they could to close the gap on that climb, but it didn’t work. After the descent, there was no help for Milan’s teammates. Soudal Quick-Step, Jayco AlUla, Visma | Lease a Bike and Intermarché-Wanty eventually saw the danger and 10 kilometres from the finish, started to work. The difference to the four leaders was still 45 seconds.
Alpecin wanted to make it hard for the sprinters on the climb of Passo del Bracco
Polti Kometa have had a man in nearly every break
The lead didn’t come down quickly, because Valgren, Thomas, Paleni and Pietrobon were working well together. At 5 kilometres from the finish the gap was still 40 seconds. The peloton was having a lot of difficulty catching the leaders and at the 1K red flag it was clear that one of the riders in the beak was going to win. Pietrobon, who had not done any work in the last kilometres, tried to jump away in that final kilometre. The Italian opened a big gap and maybe had the win in his pocket, but Paleni closed the gap for the others.
Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) – With 4K to go, they still had 30 seconds
In the end it was a sprint between Valgren and Thomas. The Dane was the first to jump, but was passed by the French track rider, taking the first victory for the season for the Cofidis team. The peloton was only 11 seconds behind at the finish line, with points leader Jonathan Milan first in 5th place. The other top fast men, Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij, finished 8th and 9th.
Top effort by the break
Stage winner, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis): “It was like a long team pursuit. It was an amazing break. Every pull in the final was full gas. With 10km to go, with 50 seconds, I started to think that we could go for the win. With the tailwind, we could play with the bunch. In the last kilometre I’ve remembered Carcassonne where I missed out on the win in similar conditions, I’ve thought maybe today is my day. I have taken the risk to lose when the Italian rider [Andrea Pietrobon] rode solo. Maybe it was my destiny to take my first big win in Italy where I live and I’m glad to deliver the first win for Cofidis. I’ve seen my team-mates super happy.”
The bunch sprint went to points leader – Jonathan Milan
Maglia Rosa, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “It was an interesting day today. The last hour or so was very fast. It was very tense coming to Lucca. The breakaway stayed in front because it was a late breakaway. Tomorrow will be a stage to be careful and not lose any time.”
Another day in pink for Tadej
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Giro d’Italia Stage 5 Result:
1. Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis in 3:59:59
2. Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-EasyPost
3. Andrea Pietrobon (Ita) Polti Kometa
4. Enzo Paleni (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:03
5. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 0:11
6. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Jayco AlUla
7. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
8. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
9. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
10. Madis Mihkels (Est) Intermarché-Wanty.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 5:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 19:19:15
2. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:46
3. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:47
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:55
5. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar at 0:56
6. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan at 1:07
7. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Lidl – Trek at 1:11
8. Jan Hirt (CZ) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:13
9. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan at 1:26
10. Esteban Chaves (Col) EF Education-EasyPost.
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