Today's stage 5 of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana offered riders a challenging menu of 175 mountainous kilometers from Benicassim to Alcossebre, Spain. The riders had to tackle no less than five categorized climbs on another heatwave-plagued day with temperatures in the mid to high 30's Celsius.

The hostilities started early and seventeen riders formed a strong breakaway group, which was kept on a tight leash by the dominant Sky Pro Cycling Team that remained present at the front of the main peloton group in order to keep the advantage between 2 and 3 minutes for most the day. The gap, however, eventually increased.

The decisive moment in the stage came just as the penultimate climb of the day was completed with fifty kilometers to go. Marco Haller (Katusha) attacked the break as the descent started and Lutsenko and Matej Mohric (UAE Emirates) bridged across on the downhill.

The group of chasers did not cooperate well and the gap started to grow to the leaders. Eventually they began attacking one another, each rider trying to eliminate the competition. Four riders went clear on the long valley road that led to the final climb of the day. Mohric dropped from the leading group and was soon caught by the Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data Team) chase group.

With just 11 kilometers to go, Kudus and Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) rode away from their chasing counterparts in fierce pursuit of Haller and Lutsenko. At this point the main peloton was well out of contention for the stage victory given its position more than six minutes behind.

Kudus and Gougeard started the final 3 kilometer climb 40 seconds behind the leading duo and almost immediately, Lutesenko dropped Haller and Kudus dropped Gougeard as the climb got steeper. Kudus worked his way into second position, but Lutsenko was riding well to keep his advantage. In the end, the climb was not long enough for Kudus to catch Lutsenko, but it was nonetheless a courageous performance from the 23-year-old Eritrean that him finish 2nd on the stage.

2017 Vuelta a Espana - Stage 5 results:
1    Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team       04:24:58
2    Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Team Dimension Data    0:00:42    
3    Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team    0:00:56    
4    Matej Mohoric (Slo) UAE Team Emirates    0:01:11    
5    Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:01:24    
6    Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin    0:01:37    
7    Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors    0:01:40    
8    Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon    0:02:04    
9    Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin    0:02:18    
10    Jeremy Maison (Fra) FDJ    0:02:31    
11    Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport    0:03:20    
12    Davide Villella (Ita) Team Cannondale-Drapac    0:04:00    
13    Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo    0:04:31    
14    Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky         
15    Michael Woods (Can) Team Cannondale-Drapac         
16    Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott         
17    Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team    0:04:39    
18    Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott    0:04:42    
19    Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team         
20    Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team         
21    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb         
22    Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin         
23    David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors    0:04:52    
24    Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb         
25    Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott         
26    Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott         
27    Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Movistar Team         
28    Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb         
29    Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    0:04:57    
30    Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    

2017 Vuelta a Espana - General classification following stage 5:
1    Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky Pro Cycling       18:07:10
2    Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team    0:00:10    
3    Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott    0:00:11    
4    Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team    0:00:13    
5    David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors    0:00:23    
6    Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    0:00:36    
7    Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team    0:00:49    
8    Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott    0:00:50    
9    Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott    0:01:09    
10    Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac    0:01:13    
11    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb    0:01:28    
12    Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:01:37    
13    Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin    0:01:40    
14    Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb    0:01:43    
15    Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb    0:01:53    
16    Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Movistar Team    0:01:56    
17    Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data    0:02:09    
18    Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott    0:02:19    
19    Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky    0:02:23    
20    Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon    0:02:29    
21    Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates    0:02:35    
22    Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates    0:02:38    
23    Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo    0:02:42    
24    Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team    0:02:45    
25    Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team    0:02:52

Order the gear you need for this season and beyond in our bike shop and subscribe to our training tracker service to track, plan and analyze your training and nutrition. Pro cyclists from Cannondale-Drapac, Orica-Scott and Dimension Data use our training tracker to win professional races such as the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana: Sign up now.