Key Takeaways: Vuelta a España Stage 5

Breaking down how a few split-second decisions decided a high-speed bunch sprint

With an impressive turn of speed inside the final few meters, Pavel Bittner overtook Wout van Aert to win the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España, announcing his arrival as a budding sprint star in the picturesque city of Seville under the scorching heat of the Andalusian sun. Behind, Kaden Groves, whose Alpecin-Deceuninck team controlled the final kilometers with their strong leadout, finished third after finding himself boxed in despite having a clear path to the line just moments before after Van Aert and Bittner launched their sprints earlier than expected.

After yesterday’s dust-up on the Vuelta’s first summit finish, the battle for the GC was lowered to a simmer, with the GC contenders simply looking to stay upright and out of trouble on the stage. Despite a small crash inside the final 10 kilometers and an ill-timed flat from Mikel Landa (he was saved any time losses by the three-kilometer rule), all the top contenders finished at the same time and without issue.

Stage Top Five:
1) Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0
2) Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +0
3) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0
4) Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +0
5) Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) +0

Green Jersey Standings:
1) Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)-158pts
2) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)-145ts
3) Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich PostNL)-81pts

Current GC Top Five:
1) Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +0
2) João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +8
3) Enric Mas (Movistar) +32
4) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +38
5) Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) +41

Stage 5 Race Notebook