In the third finish for the sprinters, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) surprised with the breakaway and won in a fast-paced finish the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia 2024, after riding 178 flat kilometers between Genoa and Lucca.
The 28-year-old French rider crossed the finish line first with a time of 3:59:59″ ahead of Denmark’s Michael Valgren (EF Education – EasyPost) and Italy’s Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti Kometa). The overall classification was unchanged in the top positions and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) remained the leader.
The first breakaway of the day was led by German Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Briton Lewis Askey (Groupama – FDJ) and Italians Mattia Bais (Team Polti Kometa) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè), but after the Passo del Bracco (15.3 km at 4%) they were caught by the big bunch.
Then, the Italian Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti Kometa), the Danish Michael Valgren (EF Education – EasyPost) and the French Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama – FDJ) tried.
The best Latin rider of the fraction was the Colombian Fernando Gaviria (Movisar Team) in 13th place, followed by another rider Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) in 19th place. The rest of the Latinos were 11 seconds behind the surprise winner.
The Italian round will continue this Thursday with the sixth fraction, a day of great care for the appearance of the sterrato -dirt road- that will be run over 180 kilometers starting in Viareggio and ending in Rapolano Terme, which includes two fourth-category passes.
The three dirt sectors will be Vidritta (Sector 1 of 4.4 km), Bagnaia (Sector 2 – belonging to the Strade Bianche and of 4.8 km), and Pievina (Sector 3 of 2.4 km), and there will be a steep climb before Serre di Rapolano, 4,200 meters from the end of the stage.
Giro d’Italia 2024 (2.UWT)
Results Stage 5 | Genova – Lucca (178 km)
| 1 | Benjamin Thomas | Cofidis | 3:59:59 |
| 2 | Michael Valgren | EF Education – EasyPost | ,, |
| 3 | Andrea Pietrobon | Team Polti Kometa | ,, |
| 4 | Enzo Paleni | Groupama – FDJ | 0:03 |
| 5 | Jonathan Milan | Lidl – Trek | 0:11 |
| 6 | Caleb Ewan | Team Jayco AlUla | ,, |
| 7 | Phil Bauhaus | Bahrain – Victorious | ,, |
| 8 | Tim Merlier | Soudal Quick-Step | ,, |
| 9 | Olav Kooij | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 10 | Madis Mihkels | Intermarché – Wanty | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates | 19:19:15 |
| 2 | Geraint Thomas | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:46 |
| 3 | Daniel Felipe Martínez | BORA – hansgrohe | 0:47 |
| 4 | Cian Uijtdebroeks | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:55 |
| 5 | Einer Rubio | Movistar Team | 0:56 |
| 6 | Lorenzo Fortunato | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:07 |
| 7 | Juan Pedro López | Lidl – Trek | 1:11 |
| 8 | Jan Hirt | Soudal Quick-Step | 1:13 |
| 9 | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:26 |
| 10 | Esteban Chaves | EF Education – EasyPost | ,, |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico