Il belga Meersman vince allo sprint la 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna - Atapuma leader della classifica generale pubblicato il 24/08/2016


MIÉRCOLES 24 AGOSTO - ETAPA 5 -Viveiro / Lugo 171.3km 


profilo altimetrico 5a tappa Vuelta a Espana 2016

ultiimi km 5a tappa Vuelta a Espana 2016
 

 

Il belga Meersman vince allo sprint la 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna - Atapuma leader  della classifica generale © Immagine Unipublic
 
EQS


Meersman, unstoppable in the Vuelta a España sprints

The Belgian added another win to the one on Sunday and reclaimed the green jersey
24-Aug-2016: Founded by the Celts in honor of their god Lugus and later conquered by the Romans, Lugo has been added in recent years on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list as the only town in the world completely surrounded by intact Roman walls, all dating back to Late Antiquity. Integrating beauty and elegance in its architecture, Lugo was prepared on Wednesday afternoon for a different kind of visit than the ones of two millenniums ago, welcoming the Vuelta a España riders for the first time in a decade, with a finish spiced up by a short unclassified climb, averaging 3.2% over 3 kilometers.

With just two riders in the break – Tiago Machado (Katusha) and Julien Morice (Direct Energie) – the peloton was more concerned about the rain and slippery roads which led to a slow race in the first half of stage 5, when the leaders were allowed to go six minutes clear. Once the sun began to smile again to the riders, the chasers picked up the pace, among those to move at the front being also Etixx – Quick-Step’s Martin Velits, who worked hard to ensure everything comes back together before the last ten kilometers.

On the uphill section of the old town, Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac) and Philippe Gilbert (BMC) attacked and opened a 10-second gap, but despite their combined efforts they were soon reeled in, just before the final kilometer. The narrow road and nervous fight to find a good position after that small climb led to a crash in the peloton, which was split by the incident, leaving only a dozen riders in the mix for the win. Piloted by an incredible Zdenek Stybar, who provided a superb lead-out, Gianni Meersman out-gunned Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) and Kevin Reza (FDJ), sprinting to his second victory in just four days and Etixx – Quick-Step’s 44th of the year.

First Belgian rider to notch up two stages at a single Vuelta a España edition since 2012, Gianni was over the moon at the end of the day: “It was already a dream come true to claim my maiden Grand Tour victory on Sunday, but to double up today leaves me without any more words. I felt really good, was confident in my legs and focused on what I had to do, and now I’m very happy to collect another win for the team and myself.”

“The race got off to a slow start, but things heated up in the last hour, when the speed increased in the peloton. The boys did a fantastic job today, they were again incredible and had trust in me, which was very important. You could see Zdenek’s lead-out was that of a man who knows his sprinter can win and it really made the difference in the final kilometer”, concluded Gianni, who seized the green jersey following his success in Lugo.
 

Image credits
Gianni-Meersman-Vuelta-a-Espana-Stage-5-_Tim-De-Waele.jpg - Gianni Meersman / All pictures attached can be used for editorial and non commercial usages only and are copyright protected - © Etixx - Quick-Step / Tim de Waele

Vuelta a Espana #5: Crash marred finale at Vuelta

Crash takes Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka out of contention

Gianni Meersman (Etixx-Quickstep) won his 2nd stage of the Vuelta a Espana by sprinting to the victory during today's 5th stage. Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) was the rider who placed 2nd and Kevin Reza (FDJ) finished in 3rd.

After yesterday's summit finish, today was another opportunity for the sprinters at the Vuelta a Espana. Only 2 riders would make the break of the day as the peloton left Viveiro on a 171km journey to Lugo. With only 2 teams represented up front, it was a relatively straight forward stage for the sprint teams to control and set up for their fast men.

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka's protected rider of the day was Kristian Sbaragli and our African Team made sure Sbaragli was looked after throughout the stage. As one rider dropped from the breakaway mid stage, Tiago Machado (Katusha) pushed on alone but with 15km to go he too was caught. 

Tyler Farrar and Jaco Venter did a lot of the early leadout work for our African Team in a fast and frantic finale. Our guys were looking in good shape right until 3km to go where a technical final and a late attack by Phillipe Gilbert (BMC) and Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac) caused some panic. The result was a big crash in the peloton which took many riders out of contention. Sbaragli was able to ride into the first 10 positions after that crash with just 1km to the finish.

As the road started to open up ahead of our punchy Italian sprinter with 600m to go, a rider rode into the back of Sbaragli which caused another mass pile up. Fortunately, Sbaragli kept his bike upright by unclipping his foot but obviously he was no longer able to participate in the sprint. 

JP Heynderickx - Sport Director
After yesterday's break by Nathan Haas and Merhawi Kudus we went all in for Kristian to have a sprint today. The guys did a great a job and they did what was asked of them. They brought him to a good position from 7km to go and then in the last kilometer he was in a good position but at 600m to go somebody rode into the back of him. He had to stop pedalling and lost the chance to get a good result today.

Team Dimension Data For Qhubeka

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was founded in 2007, steadily working its way up from a regional team to now being a World Tour team with bases in South Africa and Italy. It’s also known as Africa’s Team due to its focus on helping African talents to the world stage of cycling. The team races to raise funds for the Qhubeka Charity to mobilise people on bicycles in Africa. To contribute to the #BicyclesChangeLivescampaign, click here.

Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”“to move forward”. Qhubeka (qhubeka.org) is part of World Bicycle Relief (worldbicyclerelief.org), a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation through the power of bicycles.  

Dimension Data (dimensiondata.com) uses the power of technology to help organisations achieve great things in the digital era. As a member of the NTT Group, we accelerate our clients’ ambitions through digital infrastructure, hybrid cloud, workspaces for tomorrow, and cybersecurity. With a turnover of USD 7.5 billion, offices in 58 countries, and 31,000 employees, we deliver wherever our clients are, at every stage of their technology journey. We’re proud to be the Official Technology Partner of Amaury Sport Organisation, organiser of the Tour de France, and the title partner of the cycling team, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.

Learn more about the team at www.africasteam.com

All images attached to the press release can be used with the respective image credit in combination to this release.



Il belga Gianni Meersman (Etixx - Quick-Step) intervistato quale vincitore della 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna Photo TV © Unipublic

Ordine d'arrivo 5a tappa Vuelta di Spagna 2016

 



Il leader della classifica, il colombiano Darwin Atapuma sul podio della 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna Photo © Unipublic

Classifica Generale dopo la 5a tappa Vuelta di Spagna 2016

1    Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team    17:39:52     
2    Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team    0:00:28     
3    Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky    0:00:32     
4    Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team    0:00:38     
5    Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-BikeExchange          
6    Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team    0:01:07     
7    Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team    0:01:10     
8    Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky    0:01:12     
9    Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky    0:01:14     

10    Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step    0:01:22     
11    Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie    0:01:24     
12    Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team    0:01:35     
13    Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team    0:01:52     
14    David De La Cruz (Spa) Etixx - Quick-Step    0:01:55     
15    Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling    0:02:07     
16    Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac    0:02:13     

17    Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team    0:02:17     
18    Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team    0:02:27     

19    Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac    0:02:34     
20    Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits    0:02:35​
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