BRUSSELS: Belgian Tim Wellens beat Guillaume Martin in a sprint finish to win a hilly stage five of the Vuelta a Espana yesterday, as Primoz Roglic stayed out of trouble to keep the overall lead.
Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Martin (Cofidis) and Thymen Arensman (Sunweb) attacked from a breakaway group with around 75km left of the 184km stage to Sabinanigo and managed to stay clear. Wellens then powered away on the steep uphill finish to take his first victory of the season.
Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) put down a marker as he won the bunch sprint in the main group, two minutes 13 seconds back.
Dan Martin, second overall, was involved in a crash near the finish but because it was inside the final 3km it did not result in him losing time on Roglic and he stays five seconds back.
Richard Carapaz is third, 13 seconds down.
A stage featuring three categorised climbs proved to be one for breakaways with little action in the GC battle.
Wellens crested all three climbs in front and will wear the climber’s jersey in today’s sixth stage, a mountainous 146-km ride in the Pyrenees.