Yauheni Hutarovich won yesterday's fifth stage of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon after 145km from Lambaréné to Kango. Two days after Daniel McLay's win - and Hutarovich's second place - he took the second victory for the Bretagne-Séché Environnement team.

"We had a beautiful stage," he said. "The work was greatly facilitated by the presence of Benoît Jarrier in the break. This allowed us not to chase and let others do the work. For a moment, we even believed that Ben would go alone to the finish. When he was caught, my teammates took matters in hand, and Dan ( McLay ) dropped me off with 200 meters to go. It was very smooth, almost no problem."

Dan McLay still had to power to take 6th in the sprint. Anthony Delaplace finished 27th and remains the best-placed riders in the overall at 11th, 4'13" behind leader Rafaâ Chtioui. He still aims for the top 10 or even the top 5.

It was the 24th win for Yauheni Hutarovich since he turned pro in 2008. He had not won so early in the season since 2011 when he won a stage at the Etoile de Bessèges.