Giro df'Italia STAGE 5: Pedara – Messina 159 km

neris

Best stage of the Giro so far yesterday and today heading to the home town of Nibali today, a stage he,d probably like to win but the profile looks like one for the sprinters. Four way shoot out between Sam, Greipel, Ewan & Gaviria be a nice end to 2 days racing on Sicily. Bob Jungles wears the pink just ahead of Geraint Thomas.

Reasonably short and easy stage, placed after a MTF and before having to cross the strait to get to the mainland, so it's definitely justified. From the town of Pedara, the peloton will race along the base of the volcano, facing some tough terrain, including two climbs, the uncategorized one to Trecastagni (2.7 km at 5.7%) and the one to Andronico S.Alfio (GPM4, 6.2 km at 4.8%). After a tricky descent, the peloton will go through a false flat section of around 13 km, before having to go downhill again, this time on a much easier road. Just after hitting the coast, the intermediate sprint of Taormina (3.1 km at 4.9%) will be the last difficulty of the day. From there on, a bit less than 60 km will lead to the finishing line of Messina, including a 6.3 km circuit to be done only once. The circuit only has a handful of turns, and has a pretty negligible 400m ramp at 5% with 2 km to go, before making a u-turn into a roundabout and going back the same way to the finish, on a 1.5km straight.

cyclingnews.com

General classification after stage 4


1 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 19:41:56
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:06
3 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:00:10
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
7 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
8 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
9 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ

56 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 0:11:06

187 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:45:08

Nibali's down a team mate after the fisty cuffs yesterday

The Bahrain-Merida team and Javier Moreno have issued an apology to Team Sky and Diego Rosa after a clash in stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia led to the Spanish rider's expulsion from the race.

Coverage
Eurosport 12pm

greenspurs

Yes,
A sprinters day ...after the usual suspects send their riders up the road for a bit of exposure for the sponsors.
Maybe those involved in the Climbers Jersey fight will try take a few points on the 1 Cat. climb today, but otherwise it will be all set for the Gallop to the line...

lissard

Inrng had a nice bit of local colour in his preview this morning (http://inrng.com/2017/05/giro-stage-5-preview-messina/). It turns out the Giro will go past the Nibali family’s video rental and photocopier store in Messina at the end of the stage.

For those Italian speakers out there there's an interview with Vincenzos family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmIvJx3j79c. Proper Sicilian accents abound!

neris

lissard wrote: »

video rental .

Well they do say southern Italy is a bit backwards

neris

Oh no oh no he didn't just do that with 1 lap top go

robyntmorton

Oh Luka, that celebration was both spectacular and badly timed! :pac:

neris

neris wrote: »

Oh no oh no he didn't just do that with 1 lap top go

He'll be a long while trying to live that down

wirelessdude01

What a Fred.

Going to be a real nail biter here I think.

neris

Bora well up for this

neris

Fcuk ya gaviria

robyntmorton

Garviria celebrating when it matters! Nice win!

Mint Sauce

Can't believe your man celebrated a lap early. That was a proper face palm moment.

Glad to hear sam's name in the mix after a rotten few days

robyntmorton

Sam looks like he is over his sickness though. He could yet pick up a win during the Giro.

wirelessdude01

SammyB went about 20/30m too early.

dastardly00

So close for Sam. Gaviria played it perfectly

MPFGLB

Bennett did well...remember he lost aload of weight when ill so that would effect his power

MPFGLB

Also it there is a slight rise at the end it would suit Bennett more

dastardly00

Quote from Sam:

I'm happy, I certainly feel better. I look back and I couldn't have imagined I'd be third today. I had a short glimpse of hope when I thought I'd make it, but I ran out of steam. The guys did a fantastic job – they couldn't have done any more.

We timed the run to perfection, but I didn't know there was that much headwind. I hit out with 200 metres to go, but Gaviria was on the wheel and he was able to go and I didn't have the strength to hold him off. I don't feel back to full strength after being ill – I was struggling on the climbs – but I'm going in the right direction. I have the trust of team, and that gives me a lot of confidence, and I'd like to thank them for that.

Kaisr Sose

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

What a Fred.

He made a mistake...hardly a Fred for it! He will get his 15min of infamy from it though...

magicbastarder

well, *i've* never made that mistake so a pro has no excuse.