What a finale! Between the breakaway group, in which Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) were in particular, and the peloton, the fight was intense during the 5th stage of the Tour of Italy 2024.
It was ultimately the four leading men who had the last word, defeating the sprint teams for the first time in three days. Despite the attack from Andrea Piertrobon (Polti-Kometa), Benjamin Thomas came back and won the sprint, giving his team its first victory of the season.
Two breakaways livened up the race this Wednesday. Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani) tried their luck first, before being caught 111 km from the goal. After the Passo del Bracco, the main difficulty of the day, a second group took a few minutes ahead of the peloton, and finally resisted until the end.
Several falls occurred during this fifth stage. Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) notably fell alone 79 kilometers from the finish. However, he got up and rejoined the peloton. As the final sprint approached, a collective fall knocked out seven runners including Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech).
In the general classification, Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Emirates) retains his leadership position after another very quiet day. The Slovenian took no risks and did not attempt an attack, as was the case during the first three stages. He is still ahead of Briton Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) by 46 seconds.
