Giro d'Italia

Stage 5: Genova - Lucca

IT Italy Wednesday 08 May 2024 178 km

Breakaway surprises Giro peloton in Lucca

Breakaway surprises Giro peloton in Lucca

One of Italy’s most stunning cities, Lucca returned as a stage finish at the Corsa Rosa for the first time in almost four decades since the previous visit, when Francesco Moser won an individual time trial there. More shocking was that before Wednesday, the last time a road stage concluded there was in 1935 – the year the Vuelta a España was created.

On paper, it should have been a perfect opportunity for the sprinters to shine despite the presence of Passo del Bracco and Montemagno on the 178km course, but the script was ripped apart in the final 80 kilometers. This happened as a result of several teams pushing hard on the first climb of the day and catching the original breakaway early, which opened the door to fresh attacks.

The newly-formed quartet put a minute between them and the peloton, which should have been a manageable gap for the bunch, but the route – mostly downhill – the wind and the reluctance of some squads to commit to the chase all ended up playing into the escapees’ advantage, who made it for just a couple of seconds. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) took the win, while Tim Merlier sprinted to eighth place for his third top ten in as many consecutive stages here at the Giro d’Italia.

Merlier, who was briefly dropped on Bracco before being brought back to the peloton by his Soudal Quick-Step teammates, shared his view on the stage: “Today there were some strange team tactics. Some squads killed themselves in an attempt to drop the sprinters and then the teams didn’t work well together. The breakaway remained clear, so chapeau to them. There’s not too much to say.”

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

Race details

1 Benjamin Thomas
Cofidis
3:59:59
2 Michael Valgren Andersen
EF Education - EasyPost
0:00
3 Andrea Pietrobon
Team Polti Kometa
0:00
4 Enzo Paleni
Groupama - FDJ
0:03
5 Jonathan Milan
Lidl - Trek
0:11
6 Caleb Ewan
Team Jayco AlUla
0:11
7 Phil Bauhaus
Bahrain - Victorious
0:11
8 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
0:11
9 Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:11
10 Madis Mihkels
Intermarché - Wanty
0:11
52 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
0:11
67 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
0:11
92 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:11
94 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
0:11
100 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:49
149 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
4:21
155 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
7:16
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
19:19:15
2 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
0:46
3 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
0:47
4 Cian Uijtdebroeks
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:55
5 Einer Rubio Reyes
Movistar Team
0:56
6 Lorenzo Fortunato
Astana Qazaqstan Team
1:07
7 Juan Pedro López Pérez
Lidl - Trek
1:11
8 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
1:13
9 Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Qazaqstan Team
1:26
10 Esteban Chaves Rubio
EF Education - EasyPost
1:26
14 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1:44
39 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
8:47
108 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
35:47
121 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
39:26
129 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
39:38
132 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
39:58
162 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
47:58
1 Jonathan Milan
Lidl - Trek
134 pt
2 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
89 pt
3 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
80 pt
4 Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
61 pt
5 Benjamin Thomas
Cofidis
56 pt
6 Andrea Pietrobon
Team Polti Kometa
48 pt
7 Filippo Fiorelli
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
42 pt
8 Michael Valgren Andersen
EF Education - EasyPost
40 pt
9 Phil Bauhaus
Bahrain - Victorious
37 pt
10 Lilian Calmejane
Intermarché - Wanty
34 pt
48 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
4 pt
56 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
58 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-36 pt
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
51 pt
2 Lilian Calmejane
Intermarché - Wanty
32 pt
3 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
26 pt
4 Andrea Piccolo
EF Education - EasyPost
18 pt
5 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
16 pt
6 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Egerzeigzaarhka
Lidl - Trek
11 pt
7 Simon Geschke
Cofidis
9 pt
8 Lorenzo Fortunato
Astana Qazaqstan Team
9 pt
9 Giulio Pellizzari
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
8 pt
10 Filippo Fiorelli
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
7 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-2 pt
1 Cian Uijtdebroeks
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
19:20:10
2 Alex Baudin
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:45
3 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
0:49
4 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
1:12
5 Luke Plapp
Team Jayco AlUla
1:38
6 Georg Steinhauser
EF Education - EasyPost
1:54
7 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
1:55
8 Davide Piganzoli
Team Polti Kometa
2:11
9 Florian Lipowitz
BORA - hansgrohe
3:13
10 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
3:14
45 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
38:43
1 INEOS Grenadiers 58:02:47
2 Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:14
3 BORA - hansgrohe 0:55
4 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 1:04
5 VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè 3:51
6 EF Education - EasyPost 4:49
7 Team Jayco AlUla 5:42
8 Soudal Quick-Step 5:45
9 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 6:03
10 Movistar Team 10:30

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