Giro peloton totally underestimates the breakaway: Benjamin Thomas is the lucky winner

Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) clinched the fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia. In a gripping finale in Lucca, he was the quickest among a late breakaway of four, catching the peloton off guard.

For the third day in a row, the peloton started with what seemed like a good chance for the fast sprinters, which is why so many of them made their way down to the Grande Partenza in Turin. While the previous days involved cautiously climbing small hills towards the end of the stage, today, the initial elevation was especially intimidating.

The race began in Genoa, surrounded by hills. Following the coast south, the riders faced an early climb, but it started off quietly. Ewen Costiou (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa) broke away early on, succeeding on their first try.

Jakobsen in trouble early on

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani) managed to join them, but in the meantime, doubts were already striking back in the team leader's car of Arkéa-B&B Hotels. Costiou, their top man for the tougher stages, was told to drop back down to the peloton. There, meanwhile, the spurters' teams Soudal Quick-Step (Merlier) and Lidl-Trek (Milan) posted themselves in the lead, allowing TV viewers to marvel at the beautiful Ligurian coast for a while.

Central to this stage was the Passo del Bracco, a 15.9-kilometer climb at 3.8 percent. Heading toward this obstacle, the Alpecin-Deceuninck men were nestled at the front of the peloton, knowing that their fast man Kaden Groves is an excellent climber. Jimmy Janssens set the pace on behalf of the team and that very quickly led to difficulties for Fabio Jakobsen, who had Gijs Leemreize and Julius van den Berg with him as bodyguards, just like Tuesday.

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This meant another tough ride for Jakobsen, but he wasn’t the only one struggling. Near the summit, Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-Kometa) also had to let the lead group go, though they managed to catch up on the descent thanks to their teams’ quick response.

Stage plagued by crashes

After the climb, Alpecin-Deceuninck relaxed for a bit, which slowed the peloton down significantly. This allowed Jakobsen to quickly catch up, and the group proceeded together towards Lucca. A sprinting stretch along the way turned dramatic when Christophe Laporte crashed.

Riding for Visma | Lease a Bike, Laporte was chatting with an Alpecin-Deceuninck colleague but missed a pothole and took a hard fall. He was briefly left behind, visibly shaken, with a sore ankle and scrapes, but soon remounted his bike and rejoined the peloton.

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As Laporte struggled, four riders seized the moment after the sprint to break away. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-Kometa) took off, prompting the sprinters’ teams to quickly regroup. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal Quick-Step and Lidl-Trek worked together to keep the breakaway within reach.

Later, another crash at 33 kilometers from the finish involved Alan Riou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Davide Piganzoli, Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-Kometa) and Riley Pickrell (Israel-Premier Tech). Pickrell, in particular, had to pause due to a head injury sustained in a collision with street furniture. Daniel Felipe Martínez, third in the overall standings and riding for BORA-hansgrohe, was also caught up but continued with just a few scratches.

The "hopeless" breakaway made things difficult for the peloton

As the race continued, the nervousness increased, partly because the sprinters' teams struggled to catch the breakaway.

The pace was high, but with fifteen kilometers to go, the breakaway still had a one-minute advantage. Additional teams like Jayco AlUla, Visma | Lease a Bike and Intermarché-Wanty were called in to help, but the lead remained around 45 seconds heading into the technical final phase, which was significant considering that there were just seven kilometers left.

Thomas was the driving force at the front, while behind him, one by one, riders got worn out. Despite the efforts of strong riders like Josef Cerny and Edoardo Affini, they couldn't close the gap immediately. With three kilometers remaining, the breakaway still held a thirty-second advantage, and then the pace unexpectedly dropped...

Pietrobon, who had been pretending he couldn't keep up, suddenly attacked under the banner. Like a thief in the night, he surged away from his fellow escapees, but the others didn't let him go. Thomas ultimately proved to be stronger than Valgren and won the stage. The sprint in the peloton was won by Milan.

Results of stage 5 Giro d'Italia 2024

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