Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) crossed the line alone to win the hilly fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Sunday with Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) holding on to the leader’s blue jersey.
Yates finished 40sec behind Fuglsang with Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) third on 56sec after the 180km ride from Colli del Metauro to Recanati.
The three riders are fighting for victory in the “Race Between Two Seas” with Yates 25sec ahead of Roglic and Fuglsang third at 35sec.
Tom Dumoulin dropped a whopping 1min 39sec on the day to sit fourth at 1min 55sec and likely out of the running for the overall win.
Fuglsang’s win was the second for Astana after Alexey Lutsenko survived two late crashes to win a sprint finish for the fourth stage.
“We basically tried to do the same thing as yesterday,” said Fuglsang, who dedicated the win to former Astana teammate Michele Scarponi, who came from nearby Filottrano, and was killed in a road accident while training two years ago.
“Today was my turn to go from the distance. Luckily it worked out. I wanted to win this stage for Michele Scarponi and his wife who visited us yesterday.”
Sunday’s hilly stage covered 180km with sharp ascents including the Muro di San Pietro which has a maximum 20 percent gradient.
“I said yesterday this was going to be the hardest stage of the race and it was,” said Yates.
“I came close to the win but Fuglsang was on another level. I realised Roglic was hurting a little bit. I did the best I could but I don’t know if 25 seconds advantage will be enough to win Tirreno-Adriatico.”
Monday’s sixth and penultimate stage which covers 195km from Matelica to Jesi with the wavy but uncomplicated route designed to suit a sprint finish.
Fuglsang, successo "infinito" a Recanati #TirrenoAdriatico @NamedSport pic.twitter.com/oVHOFVdcEy
— Tirreno Adriatico (@TirrenAdriatico) March 17, 2019
Tirreno-Adriatico 2019 – stage 5 results (Colli al Metauro – Recanati):
| 1 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | 4:39:32 |
| 2 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +40 |
| 3 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | +56” |
| 4 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +01’39” |
| 5 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +01’53” |
| 6 | Wout Poels (Team Sky) | +01’57” |
| 7 | Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) | +02’09” |
| 8 | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) | +02’12” |
| 9 | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 10 | Simon Clarke (EF Education First) | ,, |
Tirreno-Adriatico 2019 – general classification after stage 5:
| 1 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 20:33:48 |
| 2 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | +25” |
| 3 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +35” |
| 4 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +01’55” |
| 5 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +02’34” |
| 6 | Wout Poels (Team Sky) | +02’39” |
| 7 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +02’46” |
| 8 | Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) | +02’58” |
| 9 | Simon Clarke (EF Education First) | +03’03” |
| 10 | Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) | +03’26” |
