Roberto Ferrari almost reaches the podium  

Roberto Ferrari made it to the finish line with the best of them in the challenging 5th stage, picking up fourth place in the final sprint where Danny Van Poppel (Sky) prevailed ahead of Luka Mezgec (Sunweb), as well as the current World Champion and leader of the general classification, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). It was a tense stage along narrow roads with continuous ups and downs on steep slopes; one which selected thirty or so riders who made it to the wet finish line after a sudden shower rendered the roads very slippery, causing a crash in the final 500 metres.

“It was a very difficult stage,” says Roberto Ferrari. “In the final I had good legs, but I hesitated a little too long to take off and I didn’t manage to pull off the sprint I wanted. I probably would have been able to make it to the podium had the conditions been perfect.”  

Tomorrow we’re headed back uphill, with the sixth stage from Kopalnia Soli to Zakopane for 189 km. The fraction will feature 5 Mountain Grand Prix primes in the last 80 km, and the arrival will be located slightly uphill.

Stage 5 results

1 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky 2:59:44

2 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott s.t.

3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t.

4 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

General classification after stage 5

1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 15:41:47

2 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team +14’’

3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe +20’’

11 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates +42’’

15 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates +47’’