Albasini retains race lead despite attacks by Porte and Hoogerland
Italian rider Marco Frapporti grabbed the biggest win of his career on today’s fifth stage of the Tour of Britain, racing into the historic town of Glastonbury comfortably ahead of British favourite Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky). The Colnago – CSF Inox competitor proved strongest out of a seven man breakaway which contested the hilly 178 kilometre leg, attacking in pursuit of Daniel Martin (Garmin Transitions) with approximately nine kilometre remaining, then dropping the Irishman on the run in to the line.
Frapporti finished 13 seconds ahead of Wiggins and 32 up on the trio of Lucas Sebastien Haedo (Team Saxo Bank), Iker Camano (Endura Racing) and Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team). There was no change in the overall standings, with Michael Albasini (HTC Columbia) preserving his overall lead over Richie Porte (Saxo Bank).
Frapporti’s win was an important result for the Colnago – CSF squad, particularly as it showed they had responded well to some disappointment. “I was here to ride for Manuel Belletti, so I have been riding in support of my team,” he said in the post-race interview. “But when Manuel got a virus and had to stop, then today I was able to take my own chance, which I did.”
The 25 year old rider from Gavardo in Lombardy was strong all day and then used that power in the finale. “I attacked with ten kilometres to go with Dan Martin. With five kilometres to go there was a false flat and I jumped then and Dan couldn’t go with me. Luckily for me I kept away.
“I didn’t even look back, because the moment you look back then you lose, so I just put my head down and went.”
Martin was understandably disappointed, given that today was the second day in a row that he was involved in a stage-long breakaway and came away with little to show for it. He was aggressive from the start of the stage and went away in the first four kilometres of racing, joining up with Haedo, Richie Porte (Saxo Bank), Jack Bauer and Camano (Endura Racing), Frapporti and Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox), Ghyllebert (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Michael Golas, Johnny Hoogerland, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil) and Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD-Neri Giambenini).
The move caused chaos behind and put additional strain on a HTC Columbia squad which was trying to protect Albasinis’s yellow jersey. Unbeknownst to most, some members of the team had been suffering with a stomach problem and this led to the early withdrawal of Tony Martin. Albasini himself also went to see the race doctor, but he was able to continue.
Hoogerland nabbed top mountain points on the category two ascent of Merrivale (km 4.7) but, soon afterwards, he, Porte, Poels, Bauer, Pozzovivo and Sinkewitz missed out when Martin, Camano, Frapporti, Ghyllebert and Golas pushed onwards. They were joined soon after by Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo Test Team), Wiggins and Haedo (Saxo Bank), making it eight in front.
The group pulled steadily ahead and were well clear on the second-cat Six Mile Hill (km 56.6, taken by Frapporti) and the first category climb at Rosemary Hill (km 105.1, taken by Wiggins). The gap at the base was seven minutes but dropped sowewhat when Porte and Sinkewitz jumped clear from the main bunch and set off in pursuit. The peloton chased hard and ultimately caught the two riders with 50 kilometres to go, but their audacious move did cause the gap to drop for a while, and also temporarily split the bunch.
Once they were reeled in and there was no further threat to Albasini’s jersey, the peloton eased back. Ronan Van Zandbeek (Skil Shimano) went clear and started a long, lonely, unsuccessful bid to reel in those up front. Their number had reduced to seven when Haussler retired from the race on Rosemary Hill, but they remained organised and kept rolling through.
At the sprint line in Langport, Golas led them across 3 minutes 45 seconds ahead of Van Zandbeek, and seven minutes clear of the peloton. They continued to cooperate until the ten kilometre to go point, when Martin seized his chance and went clear. Frapporti was too strong, however, bridging across and then pushing ahead alone to net a fine win. The others in the break came in between 13 and 51 seconds back, Van Zandbeek was 6’36 back with the peloton 9’18 behind.
Martin was disappointed to miss out, but recognised that it is very difficult to go on long-range attacks two days in a row.
“I got in the move and gave it a shot, but my legs weren’t great today. If they were like yesterday, I would have won,” he said. “I’ll try again.”
Hoogerland was also a little frustrated. “I should have gone when Porte and Sinkewitz attacked,” he admitted. “But I was too far back in the bunch and had to pass a lot of riders to get to the front. I’ll keep trying to win the race, but the terrain is flatter from this point on and it’s going to be hard.”
The race continues tomorrow with a 190 kilometre leg to Great Yarmouth. It features just three category three climbs and will most likely finish in a bunch sprint.
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Tour of Britain, September 11-18:
September 15, Stage 5 results: Tavistock – Glastonbury:
1, Marco Frapporti (Colnago – CSF Inox) 176 kilometres in 4 hours 16 mins 10 secs
2, Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) at 13 secs
3, Lucas Sebastien Haedo (Team Saxo Bank) at 32 secs
4, Iker Camano (Endura Racing)
5, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
6, Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) at 50 secs
7, Dan Martin (Garmin – Transitions) at 51 secs
Sprint 1 – Cheriton Bishop: 1, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 5 pts
Sprint 2 – Cullompton: 1, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 5 pts
Sprint 3 – Langport: 1, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 5 pts
King of the Mountains prime 1, Merrivale (Cat 2):
1, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 6 pts
2, Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD – Neri Giambenini) 5
3, Iker Camano (Endura Racing) 4
King of the Mountains prime 2, Six Mile Hill (Cat 2):
1, Marco Frapporti (Colnago – CSF Inox) 6 pts
2, Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team) 5
3, Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 4
King of the Mountains prime 3 – Rosemary Hill (Cat 1):
1, Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 10 pts
2, Iker Camano (Endura Racing) 8
3, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 6
Teams:
1, Colnago-CSF Inox, 13 hours 7 mins 6 secs
2, Team Sky, at 13 secs
3, Vacansoleil Pro Cycling, at 32 secs
General classification after stage 5:
1, Michael Albasini (Team HTC – Columbia) 19 hours 53 mins 9 secs
2, Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) at 1 min 28 secs
3, Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 32 secs
4, Greg Henderson (Team Sky) at 1 min 36 secs
5, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 42 secs
6, Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD – Neri Giambenini) at 2 mins 8 secs
Points classification:
1, Michael Albasini (Team HTC – Columbia) 39 pts
2, Greg Henderson (Team Sky) 36
3, Koen De Kort (Skil – Shimano) 30
Mountains classification:
1, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 51 pts
2, Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) 45
3, Dan Martin (Garmin – Transitions) 32
Sprint classification:
1, Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) 23 pts
2, Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) 15
3, Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) 11
Teams:
1, Vacansoleil Pro Cycling, 59 hours 35 mins 54 secs
2, Team Sky, at 5 mins 46 secs
3, Team Saxo Bank, at 23 mins 56 secs
4, ISD-Neri Giambenini, at 33 mins 57 secs
5, Team HTC-Columbia, at 35 mins 54 secs