Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) got one up on his fellow sprinters in the Vuelta a Espana when the versatile Australia won the first bunch kick of this year's Spanish grand tour. The Australian rewarded a huge work by his team who did a fabulous job to reel in the day's early break and took a very convincing win ahead of Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre) and Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

 

Michael Matthews was left disappointed in yesterday's uphill finish when his win in the sprint was only good enough for 3rd as Daniel Moreno (Katusha) and Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) had both slipped clear on the finishing straight. He used the first opportunity to make amends when he powered clear of his rivals in the first true bunch kick of this year's race.

 

It was, however, no mean feat to get to the final sprint. Several rolling hills and a strong breakaway that had been allowed a 10-minute gap, forced the sprint teams to use most of their resources to get it back together. Orica-GreenEdge had to use most of their teams in the finale of the stage to finally reel in the final escapees with 6km to go.

 

Having used up most of his teammates, Matthews was left to fight for himself in the hectic finale but he managed to get into the perfect position on the back of the Argos-Shimano train. The Ducth team was in control inside the final kilometre and Matthews did it right by anticipating the sprint of Nikias Arndt. As soon as the Australian hit the front, he opened up a huge gap and Maximilano Richeze and Gianni Meersman were left to fight for 2nd with the Argentinean taking the runner-up position.

 

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished safely in the bunch and this time there were no major splits. Hence, the Italian race favourite defended his leader's jersey and will take his 3-second lead over Chris Horner (Radioshack) into tomorrow's 6th stage which appears to be destined to finish in a bunch sprint.

 

Starting at 15.00 you can follow the race on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

 

A lumpy stage

The 174,3km had a flat finish but to get there, the sprinters had to survive numerous climbs on what was generally a very hilly route. Two long, gradual categorized climbs were set to break the legs and the final 10km contained several small, nasty hills and very few metres of flat roads.

 

The lumpy nature of the stage meant that a breakaway was expected to have a chance of success. Hence, the opening part of the race was rather aggressive.

 

An unsuccessful break

The first to launch an attack was Laurent Mangel (FDJ) and he was joined by Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) and Matthew Busche (Radioshack). Marco Pinotti (BMC) bridged across but the break didn't contain the right combination of teams and so was reeled in by the peloton.

 

The next to escape were Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto), Winner Anacona (Lampre) and Arnaud Courteille (FDJ) and they got company from Winner Anacona (Lampre) who made it up to the leaders on his own. Those five riders were allowed to build up a massive gap that reached around 10.30 with 100km to go.

 

The chase gets organized

Until that point Astana had been riding a steady tempo on the front but the sprint teams now decided that it was time to kick into action. Tyler Farrar's Garmin-Sharp was the first to react and they were later joined by Orica-GreenEdge.

 

For a long time, the peloton was led by Nick Nuyens, Johan Vansummeren, Caleb Fairly (all Garmin-Sharp) and Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) and those four riders did a good job to bring the gap down in the hard, rolling terrain. When they hit the bottom of the day's final climb, the gap was, however, still 5.03 and only 42km remained.

 

The climb takes its toll

Faily fell off the pace but instead Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) moved to the front. Omega Pharma-Quick Step decided that it was time to assist their fellow sprint teams, adding Serge Pauwels to the team of chasers. Meier and Nuyens fell back towards the back of the peloton and so it was left to Vansummeren, Pauwels and Clarke to do the bulk of the work on the slopes.

 

At the top, the gap was down to three minutes and Orica-GreenEdge now decided to go all in. While Pauwels and Vansummeren both fell off the pace, Meier came back to the front and joined forces with Clarke, Sam Bewley and Simon Gerrans to lead the chase.

 

The break splits up

The riders hit the first of several small climbs with 10km to go and now the gap was down to just 50 seconds. Courteille attacked, Van De Walle set off in pursuit while Anacona, Edet and Piedra were all caught by the fast-moving peloton.

 

Vacansoleil decided to add some horsepower to the chase and Wout Poels made his contributions on some of the hills, trying to toughen up the race for his sprinter Grega Bole. Later it was left to Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Mitchell Docker (Orica-GreenEdge), the Australian team now being forced to use their lead-out riders to close the gap.

 

All back together

Van De Walle rejoined Courteille but when Omega Pharma-Quick Step decided to use Tony Martin in the chase, the duo was finally caught. The Belgian team remained in control for some time until Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel) attacked with 3km to go.

 

Now Argos-Shimano's sprint train kicked into action and they brought Urtasun back. World champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) took a huge turn on the front as they passed the flamme rouge but it was Ramon Sinkeldam who led out the sprint for Arndt. However, Matthews was perfectly positioned and the Australian took his first grand tour win with apparent ease.

 

Result:

1. Michael Matthews 4.28.22

2. Maximiliano Richeze

3. Gianni Meersman

4. Nikias Arndt

5. Tyler Farrar

6. Edvald Boasson Hagen

7. Anthony Roux

8. Greg Henderson

9. Daniele Ratto

10. Grega Bole

 

General classification:

1. Vincenzo Nibali 18.43.52

2. Chris Horner +0.03

3. Nicolas Roche +0.08

4. Haimar Zubeldia +0.16

5. Alejandro Valverde +0.21

6. Robert Kiserlovski +0.25

7. Rigoberto Uran +0.28

8. Daniel Moreno +0.31

9. Rafal Majka +0.38

10. Roman Kreuziger +0.42

 

Points classification:

1. Daniel Moreno 48

2. Michael Matthews 41

3. Nicolas Roche 38

4. Alejandro Valverde 37

5. Bauke Mollema 29

 

Mountains classification:

1. Nicolas Roche 11

2. Nicolas Edet 8

3. Daniel Moreno 6

4. Winner Anacona 5

5. Domenico Pozzovivo 4

 

Combination classification:

1. Nicolas Roche 7

2. Daniel Moreno 12

3. Chris Horner 15

4. Alejandro Valverde 15

5. Joaquim Rodriguez 36

 

Teams classification:

1. Radioshack 55.12.07

2. Saxo-Tinkoff +0.05

3. Belkin +1.10

4. NetApp-Endura +1.25

5. Movistar +1.28