Belgian Gianni Meersman won stage five of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday, his second victory after triumphing on stage two, both wins coming on flat terrain.
Meersman won the sprint finish in the 171.3km stage from Viveiro to Lugo in a time of 4 hours, 16 minutes and 42 seconds, while Colombian Darwin Atapuma retained the overall lead.
Etixx-Quick Step rider Meersman finished ahead of Luxembourg’s Fabio Felline of Trek-Segafredo in second and France’s Kevin Reza of FDJ in third after being set up well by his team and sprinting fastest on the uphill run to the line.
Photo: EPA
Because of a crash in the last kilometer, overall leader Atapuma lost more than a minute and the stage results had Spain’s Alejandro Valverde first, but the 3km rule was applied and the Colombian kept his red jersey, leading by 29 seconds.
“I was scared a little because the fall was in front of me, but luckily it did not involve me and I was able to continue without problems,” Atapuma said. “For my sporting career and the team, this is a great happiness. I came to the tour with good feelings and we will keep fighting, with the help of my team.”
Meersman said on Eurosport: “I was very happy with the first win, it gave me a lot of confidence and I started today with no stress. The lead-out from [Zdenek] Stybar was incredible and when I saw the 200 meters to go sign I just went because I knew if I stopped the others would come from behind. In the end nobody passed me and I am very happy.”
BMC’s Philippe Gilbert and Cannondale-Drapac’s Simon Clarke made a late attack with the peloton chasing, but due to tricky narrow roads there were various incidents.
Steven Kruijswijk of LottoNL-Jumbo went down and had to receive medical attention, while another crash nearly involved Chris Froome, who eventually finished in 14th place.
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