Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) won the fifth stage of Paris-Nice, a 25.5 kilometre time trial around Barbentane, near Avignon, on Thursday.
The time trial posted an enticing challenge. A mid-point climb of 1km at four per cent average was the most notable feature, making the course suited to the climbers. The course then ended with a short, sharp rise to the line.
Nils Politt of Katusha-Alpecin came closest, seven seconds back, with race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) third fastest, 11 seconds behind. Egan Bernal finished sixth but jumped to second overall and trails his teammate by 19 seconds.
“It’s unexpected,” Yates said. “It’s my first ever victory in a time trial, even as a youth cyclist.”
“I have been working on my time trial quite a lot the last few years but I didn’t really expect to be fastest today. At the start of the day, I thought it was for the TT specialists. So especially with how this course was, I am very happy.”
Friday’s sixth stage runs 176.5km through hills just north of the Mediterranean coast between Peynier and Brignoles.
Paris-Nice 2019 – stage 5 results (Barbentane – Barbentane ITT):
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 30:26 |
| 2 | Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) | +07” |
| 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +11” |
| 4 | Tejay Van Garderen (EF Education First) | +15” |
| 5 | Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 6 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 7 | Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 8 | Tom Scully (EF Education First) | +27” |
| 9 | Marc Soler (Movistar) | +30” |
| 10 | Luis León Sanchez (Astana) | ,, |
Paris-Nice 2019 – general classification after stage 5:
| 1 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | 17:23:04 |
| 2 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | +15” |
| 3 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | +24” |
| 4 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +57” |
| 5 | Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 6 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +01’01” |
| 7 | Felix Großschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’05” |
| 8 | Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’15” |
| 9 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +01’18” |
| 10 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | +01’21” |
