Stage 5
Matthews' first
- Wednesday 28 August 2013
- 174 km
- 3,200 m climbed
- Won by Michael Matthews
The road
At the start
The sprinters get their first day
Horner was dropped on the ramp into Fisterra and Nibali has the jersey back by three seconds, with Roche at eight and Valverde at twenty-one. After a team time trial and three uphill finishes the fast men finally get something to aim at: a hundred and seventy-four kilometres to Lago de Sanabria, with Cavendish, Greipel and Kittel all watching from home.
How it was won
- 31 km to go
Omega Pharma turn the screw
Five riders went after eight kilometres and took ten minutes; Garmin and Orica have been chipping at it all afternoon. On the Alto de Padornelo, Omega Pharma-QuickStep ratchet the pace up for Meersman and five minutes starts falling away in whole minutes at a time.
- At the line
Matthews' first
The last two leaders are taken with 2.4 kilometres left and, after a late dig from Urtasun and a tame one from Gilbert, it is a sprint. Michael Matthews hits the front inside two hundred metres, with Richeze and Meersman rubbing shoulders behind him, and wins his first Grand Tour stage by a length.
The result
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Matthews | Orica GreenEDGE | 4:28:22 |
| 2 | Maximiliano Richeze | Lampre - Merida | +0:00 |
| 3 | Gianni Meersman | Omega Pharma - Quick-Step | +0:00 |
The route on real terrain, every moment pinned to the kilometre it happened on — and the GPX to ride it yourself.