Tour of the Basque Country – Stage 5 Results
In a rainstorm, Marco Pinotti (Columbia Highroad) won Friday’s 5th stage of Tour of the Basque Country between Güeñes and Zalla (162km). Riding alone on the last climb of the day, Pinotti resisted the oncoming peloton in the last kilometers to win by twenty seconds. Ben Swift (Katusha) won the pack sprint and Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre) crossed third.
There was a little bit of excitement in the race today as a group of 8 riders containing Joaquim Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne), Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), David Moncoutie (Cofidis), David de la Fuente (Fuji-Servetto), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Maxime Monfort (Columbia-Highroad) and Christian Pfanberger (Katusha) pulled clear on the Cat. 1 Alto de Ubal at km 51.5.
Rodríguez was only 54 seconds off of Contador’s time and quickly climbed into the “virtual” lead as the gap opened up to more than a minute. Astana got some help from Euskaltel-Euskadi to keep the fugitives on a short leash and the gap never exceeded two minutes.
In the provisional overall standings, Alberto Contador retains first place before Saturday’s final stage, a 24km time trial around Zalla.
Partial Results:
| Place | Rider | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  M.PINOTTI (THR) | 4h15’56″ | ||
| 2 |  B.SWIFT (KAT) | à 19″ | ||
| 3 | F.GAVAZZI (LAM) | m.t. | ||
| 4 |  C.KNEES (MRM) | m.t. | ||
| 5 | J.FROHLINGER (MRM) | m.t. | ||
| 6 |  V.EFIMKIN (ALM) | m.t. | ||
| 7 |  D.LOPEZ GARCIA (GCE) | m.t. | ||
| 8 |  P.VELITS (MRM) | m.t. | ||
| 9 |  D.DEVENYNS (QST) | m.t. | ||
| 10 | A.CONTADOR (AST) | m.t. | ||
General Classification:
| Place | Rider | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.CONTADOR (AST) | 20h16’31″ | ||
| 2 |  C.EVANS (SIL) | à 8″ | ||
| 2 | S.SANCHEZ (EUS) | m.t. | ||
| 4 | A.COLOM MAS (KAT) | m.t. | ||
| 5 | D.CUNEGO (LAM) | à 27″ | ||
| 6 |  R.GESINK (RAB) | à 32″ | ||
| 7 | L.SANCHEZ (GCE) | à 35″ | ||
| 8 |  R.KREUZIGER (LIQ) | à 54″ | ||
| 9 | V.NIBALI (LIQ) | m.t. | ||
| 10 |  S.CASAR (FDJ) | m.t. | ||
| 11 | J.RODRIGUEZ (GCE) | m.t. | ||
| 12 | C.KNEES (MRM) | à 1’11″ | ||
| 13 | E.MARTINEZ (EUS) | m.t. | ||
| 14 | M.ROGERS (THR) | m.t. | ||
| 15 | D.DEVENYNS (QST) | m.t. | ||
| 16 | D.LOPEZ GARCIA (GCE) | m.t. | ||
| 17 |  F.SCHLECK (SAX) | m.t. | ||
| 18 |  F.KESSIAKOFF (FUJ) | à 1’34″ | ||
| 19 |  J.FUGLSANG (SAX) | à 1’36″ | ||
| 20 | A.NOE (LIQ) | à 1’51″ | ||
Something's missing from this post: your voice. Add your comments below!
For the latest in cycling news be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed .
Questions or suggestions? Use our contact page to let us know.
