Germany’s Andre Greipel took the golden jersey as overall leader of the Tour of Spain after recording his second consecutive stage win on Thursday.
The Team Columbia rider came from behind with just metres to go to beat Belgium’s Tom Boonen and Italy’s Daniele Bennati in a sprint at the end of the 174km race from Tarragona to Vinaros in northeastern Spain.
The stage was held amid scorching temperatures that reached 38˚C, a contrast to the rain on Tuesday when Greipel won the treacherous 225km fourth stage between Venlo in the Netherlands and Liege in Belgium.
The 27-year-old takes over as Tour leader from Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara, who had led since the time trial on the first day.
In the overall classification the German leads Boonen by six seconds and Cancellara by nine seconds, with Bennati fourth.
“It was one of the victories that I will never forget. The team did exceptional work even if one of them had a problem with a wheel,” said Greipel, who turned professional in 2005.
It was his 17th victory of the season but the first time he has led a major Tour.
Thursday’s fifth stage was the first this year to be held in Spain after opening in the Netherlands.
It was marked by an attack in the first kilometer by Spain’s Julien Sanchez Pimienta.
He was soon joined by five other riders, and the six then built up a lead of several minutes. They were caught by the peloton with less than 20km to go.
Frenchman Philippe Gilbert also launched a late breakaway on the final hill climb of La Ermita, but was reeled in a few minutes later.
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