Astana Pro Team rider Vincenzo Nibali finished 17 seconds behind stage winner Joaquím Rodriguez (Katusha) on Sunday after 230 km of racing at stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico, and was just nine seconds behind the lead group that he came with to the uphill finish in Chieti.

In his post-stage comments, Nibali, who won Tirreno-Adriatico last year, said he is not in top form in March and looked towards his main objective of the season, the Giro d’Italia.

"I have objectives further ahead in the season, and my form here in Tirreno-Adriatico is not at its top,” Nibali stated on the Astana website. ”I'm strong, as strong as I need to be in order to meet my goals further out, but I'm training and racing towards a peak of fitness that will come in May, at the Giro d'Italia," Nibali said.

Spanish rider Joaquím Rodriguez won the stage with a late burst of speed on a vertical climb in the narrow streets of this hilltop village overlooking the sea, while Chris Froome (Sky) now leads the overall classification, with Nibali and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 20 seconds back.