Team Visma | Lease a Bike shows fighting spirit in fifth stage Itzulia Basque Country
A day after the massive crash that forced several riders to abandon the race, Team Visma | Lease a Bike was determined to do Vingegaard a favor. The Dane, who suffered a broken collarbone and several rib fractures, a pneumothorax and a bruised lung, had a good night in hospital and is doing well.
Without Vingegaard, the peloton set off for a 176-kilometer ride. On the hilly course, Sepp Kuss and Johannes Staune-Mittet, among others, showed their fighting spirit. Kuss tried together with young Isaac del Torro, but the two barely got any space.
“It was quite a difficult day for me.”
Milan Vader
Moments later, Staune-Mittet attempted to surprise the peloton with several fellow escapees, but the young Norwegian had to pay for his attack on the final passage of the Muniketagaina. In a sprint with a reduced peloton, Romain Gregoire took the stage win. Vader sprinted in the same group to a place just outside the top 20.
“It was quite a difficult day for me. Jonas’ crash was still in my head,” Vader said afterwards. “Nevertheless, I liked the fact that I was still able to compete in the final.” Sports director Frans Maassen is proud of his team. “All our riders showed themselves today. I think that’s really class, because the loss of Jonas hit hard.”
Saturday marks the final stage of the Itzulia Basque Country. With seven categorized climbs, the queen stage promises to be a brutal one.
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Itzulia Basque Country
Stage 5
Result
Rankings
Result
1
Romain Grégoire
Groupama – FDJ
03:43:28
2
Orluis Aular
Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
+00:00:00
3
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA – hansgrohe
+00:00:00
23
Milan Vader
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:00
69
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:02:41
76
Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:05:48
92
Johannes Staune-Mittet
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:08:38
108
Loe van Belle
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:12:12
Rankings
1
Mattias Skjelmose
Lidl – Trek
12:19:39
2
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA – hansgrohe
+00:00:02
3
Juan Ayuso
UAE Team Emirates
+00:00:04
48
Milan Vader
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:02:41
80
Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:08:28
95
Johannes Staune-Mittet
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:11:20
104
Loe van Belle
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:24
105
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:31
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Subjects
Cycling – World Tour men
1
Itzulia Basque Country
