Tour of the Basque Country 2017: Valverde claims victory at Arrate to take overall lead

Results 5th stage Tour of the Basque Country 2017

1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Rigoberto Uran (col) s.t.
3. Romain Bardet (fra) s.t.
4. Michael Woods (can) s.t.
5. Louis Meintjes (rsa) s.t.
6. Alberto Contador (spa) + 0.03
7. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.15
8. Sergio Henao (col) s.t.
9. Simon Yates (gbr) s.t.
10. David de la Cruz (spa) + 0.22

GC after stage 5
1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Rigoberto Uran (col) s.t.
3. Romain Bardet (fra) s.t.
4. Louis Meintjes (rsa) s.t.
5. Michael Woods (can) s.t.
6. Alberto Contador (spa) + 0.03
7. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.15
8. Sergio Henao (col) s.t.
9. David de la Cruz (spa) + 0.19
10. Patrick Konrad (aut) + 0.22

Race report
At kilometre 15 a large group forces a gap, but the peloton keeps them close. Shortly after the second climb Fraile and Ten Dam are the last riders to be reeled in.

At one of the steepest ramps of the last climb Woods attacks. Valverde, Contador and Henao are the first to close the gap and before Meintjes, Uran and Bardet are able to hook up too, Woods accelerates again. Meintjes struggles to get to his wheel, only to find the others re-join them when the climb flattens out.

Bardet attacks just before the last kilometre, while Valverde jumps to his wheel. The others regain contact also, but El Imbatido pushes on to win the race ahead of Bardet and Uran.

With five riders in s.t. and an ITT on tap for Saturday we are up for an intriguing denouement.

Check out the route of stage 5 in the 2017 Tour of the Basque Country.

Tour of the Basque Country 2017 stage 5: Route maps, height profiles, and more

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All stages

Route and profile 5th stage

Profile 5th stage

Route 5th stage

Final kilometres

Climb details Alto de Izua

Climb details Alto de Usartza

Start and finish at Google maps

Start in Bilbao

Start in Bilbao (details)

Finish in Eibar

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