In a dramatic finish of the Vuelta a Espana’s fifth stage on Wednesday, Pavel Bittner from Czech Republic narrowly surpassed Wout van Aert. Initially, it seemed like Van Aert, who rides for Visma, was poised to secure his second stage win of this year’s competition in an exhilarating sprint finish in Seville, however, Bittner from DFP managed to just outdo the Belgian rider. This marked the first Grand Tour victory in Bittner’s career.
Despite the defeat, Van Aert held onto the green jersey, symbolic of leading the points classification. He might feel disappointed at missing out on a golden opportunity, much like Australia’s Kaden Groves, who was in contention for his own second stage victory but finished in third place instead.
While Red Bull’s Primoz Roglic from Slovenia secured his overall lead by completing the stage safely within the main group of riders, or peloton. Irish rider Eddie Dunbar, who represents Jayco-AlUla, finished distantly at 94th and EF Education-EasyPost’s Darren Rafferty came in at a further behind spot of 133rd.
Compared to the hilly ascents of the preceding day, Wednesday’s 177-km stage stretching from Fuente del Maestre to Seville offered flatter terrains, albeit with undulating roads on the first half of the route and under blistering heat. The conditions favoured a breakaway group of riders which duly emerged but was eventually swallowed back into the main bunch with 38km to go, leading to a thrilling sprint finish in the streets of Seville.
Van Aert made his move prematurely and appeared to be the clear victor until he miscalculated his final lunge for the finish line, giving Bittner an opportunity to snatch victory by a slim margin. The stage also saw a casualty, with Portuguese cyclist Rui Costa involved in a crash that forced him to pull out of the race.
As the Vuelta moves into mountainous terrain on Thursday, race favourite Roglic enjoys an eight-second lead over Joao Almeida from UAE Team Emirates, according to Reuters.